ATLANTA – Thanks to a dominant second half, a game that saw 13 lead changes and 12 ties between the top teams in the WNBA's East and West conferences turned into a Lynx runaway, and as a result they are one victory away from matching their best start ever.
Maya Moore had 19 points to lead six teammates in double figures and the Lynx improved to 9-0 with a 110-78 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Friday night, the most lopsided road victory in franchise history.
On Saturday at Washington, the Lynx will attempt to match the league and franchise record for consecutive victories to start a season; the 2012 Lynx began 10-0.
Seimone Augustus did not play because of a concussion suffered Tuesday, but even without her the Lynx surpassed 100 points for the first time since July 22, 2014, when they beat the Dream 112-108 at Target Center.
The Lynx, up 46-45 at the break, scored 32 points in each of the final two quarters. Atlanta was held to 33 points in the entire second half.
"We were really disappointed at halftime," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "They cleaned it up. We have a veteran team. It doesn't matter how many times the coaching staff says you have to do this and that, ultimately the players have to make the decision."
Jia Perkins, starting in place of Augustus, scored 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and added five rebounds and two assists. Lindsay Whalen had 17 points, including the first seven of the second half for the Lynx. Her driving layup with 7 minutes, 28 seconds left in the third quarter put her team ahead 53-52 and started a 9-0 run. The Lynx ended the quarter up 78-63.
The Lynx continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter, with Perkins hitting a three-pointer to push them over the 100-point mark with 3:08 remaining.
"We came out stronger after halftime," Moore said. "We failed to have a fast start at the beginning of the game, but we really picked it up in the second half and did what we planned to do."
The Lynx shot 55.1 percent from the floor and also made 26 of 28 free throws.
Tiffany Hayes led Atlanta with 23 points. Angel McCoughtry scored 22, but she shot 5-for-21 from the floor. The Dream shot only 33.8 percent from the floor.
