LOS ANGELES—The Minnesota Lynx scored the game’s first 11 points and never looked back en route to an 86–62 romp over the Los Angeles Sparks in WNBA Commissioner’s Cup competition on Wednesday night.
Napheesa Collier scored seven of her game-high 25 points in Minnesota’s opening deluge. She shot a blistering 10-for-15 from the floor to pace the Lynx to a 32-for-65 night (49.2 percent) as a team.
Minnesota held Los Angeles to just 20-of-77 shooting (26 percent) on the other end, including 4-for-28 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range. The resulting 62 points marked a season low for Los Angeles.
Despite falling behind by as many as 28 points in the third quarter, the Sparks rallied in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 12 points. Dearica Hamby, the only Los Angeles scorer in double figures with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, capped the Sparks’ fourth-quarter surge by sinking a layup with 4:46 remaining. That was as close as Los Angeles could come.
Bridget Carleton snuffed any hope of a Sparks comeback by hitting a 3-pointer at the 3:08 mark. That ignited a 7–0 run that gave the visitors a 20-point lead. Minnesota (7–2) held Los Angeles (2–7) without a field goal for the final 3:30 to send the Sparks to their third consecutive defeat.
The Lynx have won three in a row and five of the past six. Carleton finished with 15 points. She shot 4-for-4 from 3-point range and added seven rebounds in the win. Kayla McBride scored 13 points for Minnesota, and Alanna Smith chipped in 10. Collier led the Lynx with nine rebounds.
Ten of the 11 Los Angeles players who logged minutes scored points. Rae Burrell wound up with a season-high nine points off the bench, to go with five rebounds. Layshia Clarendon scored seven points. Rookie Cameron Brink blocked two shots and grabbed six rebounds, but she scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting before fouling out.
