It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, Sylvia Fowles said.

Fowles, the Lynx center, was playing in the All-Star Game Sunday in Chicago when, in the second quarter, she stole a pass, dribbled in alone and dunked the ball. It was her first dunk in more than a decade.

As she made her way down the court Fowles was engulfed by ecstatic Team Wilson teammates. Then she pointed to Dawn Staley — her head coach at the most recent Olympic Games — winked and smiled.

"The dunk happened unexpectedly,'' Fowles said. "It just happened.''

Fowles' team, Team Wilson, won the game 134-112.

To Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve — who was at the game, too — it was about time. She'd been ribbing Fowles since June 28, when Fowles stole the ball, went in alone but just took a layup. "I was like, 'Why don't you dunk that thing?'" Reeve said.

"But it just surprised everybody,'' Reeve said about Sunday. "You don't think a 36-year-old with a bum wheel is going to be the one that will dunk. It was a fun moment.''

  • The Lynx signed Nikola Milic to a third seven-day contract Tuesday.