Against the defensive-minded Seattle Storm, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve knew her team needed to be sharp offensively to extend its already league-best winning streak to nine games. But on Sunday night at Target Center, it took the Lynx almost two minutes to score, the longest they have gone without a basket after a tipoff in more than a month.
It took the Lynx longer than usual to find their rhythm but, once they did, not even a fourth-quarter Storm rally could stop them.
Capitalizing off the Storm's 21 turnovers, the Lynx scored 21 fast-break points on the way to a 90-72 victory, their 18th in a row at home during the regular season. The home streak matches the third-best mark in WNBA history.
"We wanted to make sure it was our tempo, not their tempo," Reeve said, "and we accomplished that, particularly in the first quarter. I thought that set the tone for us to get some flow to what we were doing."
The Lynx scored 15 points off 10 Storm turnovers in the opening quarter alone, outscoring their opponent 24-10 in the period after a 20-6 closing run.
Four minutes into the game, Lindsay Whalen stole the ball and tossed it ahead to Seimone Augustus, who drove for a layup and was fouled. She made the ensuing free throw to convert the three-point play. The Storm turned the ball over on four of their next five possessions.
In the second quarter, Rebekkah Brunson scored 10 of her 12 points, helping the Lynx take a 46-32 halftime lead. Brunson also had a team-high 11 rebounds, enough for her eighth double-double this season.
"We're a team that, you never really know whose night it's going to be," Brunson said. "No one at that moment was scoring [in the second quarter], so it just gave me an opportunity to get some offense for myself."