Napheesa Collier, Lynx win second straight over Wings

Napheesa Collier poured in 25 points and Kayla McBride added 20 as the visiting Minnesota Lynx defeated the Dallas Wings 91-80 on Thursday in Arlington, Texas, in the second of a home-and-home series between the teams.

Minnesota also won the first of the series 91-86 on Tuesday in Minneapolis and earned a split of the season series with the victory on Thursday.

The Lynx (17-17) led by two after a tightly played first half before a 14-0 run over the first 3:21 of the third quarter staked them to a 64-48 advantage. Collier had six points in that spurt as Minnesota was up by 11 heading into the final period.

But like in Tuesday's game, the Wings rallied, scoring the first nine points of the final period to draw within 71-69. Dallas could never get over the hump, getting as close as one point twice before a 3-pointer by McBride pushed the Minnesota lead to 86-80 and allowed the Lynx to hold.

Tiffany Mitchell added 11 for Minnesota.

Teaira McCowan racked up 23 points and 18 rebounds to lead Dallas (18-16). Awak Kuier added 12, with Arike Ogunbowale and Natasha Howard scoring 10 each in the loss. Dallas played without Satou Sabally, who missed her first game of the season after injuring her ankle late in Tuesday's game.

The Wings led by as many as six points twice in the first quarter, the final time after a layup by McCown at the 6:31 mark, before Minnesota rallied to tie the game at 13. The advantage changed hands three times through the rest of the period before the Lynx took a 25-23 lead to the first break.

Minnesota went up 28-23 on Rachel Banham's layup 10 seconds into the second period. The Wings tied the game at 37 on a pair of free throws by Odyssey Sims with 5:34 to play in the quarter.

The half featured 15 lead changes, the last on a floating jumper by McBride that gave the Lynx a one-point advantage on the way to a 50-48 edge at intermission.

McBride led Minnesota with 11 points before halftime while Collier had 10 for the Lynx. McCowan scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the half for the Wings, with Kuier adding 11 points in almost 18 minutes in her first start of the season.