Natisha Hiedeman provided a late third-quarter spark that carried over into the final frame, and the Minnesota Lynx beat Dallas 90-78 Monday night at Target Center.
Deftly leading the offensive charge, the backup guard scored nine of her season-high 17 points in a nearly five-minute span that saw the Lynx open up a 13-point lead.
Kayla McBride had 19 points and seven assists to lead five Lynx players who finished with double-digit points.
Napheesa Collier added 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals; Alanna Smith scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds; Dorka Juhász made all five of her shots for 11 points.
Minnesota (11-3) has won four straight and seven of eight.
The Lynx played without starting forward Bridget Carleton, who missed the game with an elbow injury and is considered day to day. Carleton has found her stroke from deep, going 11 of 18 in her past three games.
Juhász, starting for the first time this season, and Smith were routinely challenged inside with mixed success.
A post-oriented team, the Wings started three players at least 6-feet-4, and they outscored Minnesota 44-38 in the paint — 28-10 in the first half — and 14-8 in second-chance opportunities.
Dallas (3-10) lost its eighth straight game and had just eight healthy players available. Arike Ogunbowale, the league’s second-leading scorer at 24.9 points per game, sat out with Achilles soreness.
With the Lynx down 59-57, Hiedeman kicked off a 19-6 run with a 3-point play and a couple of free throws before finding Smith for an easy basket.
Up by three starting the fourth quarter, Minnesota opened on a 12-2 run to make it 78-63, a stretch that included four points and a couple Hiedeman feeds for Lynx layups.
The Wings got within six. But a Collier jumper and a Hiedeman layup that began with a Smith block in the defensive end and a McBride feed at the other end put Minnesota up 84-74.
Sevgi Uzun and Maddy Siegrist led the Wings with 17 points each. Monique Billings added 15.
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