Skylar Diggins scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half, Nneka Ogwumike had 12 points and nine rebounds, and the Seattle Storm rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat the Minnesota Lynx 93-79 on Thursday night at Target Center.
Seattle, which trailed 39-18 midway through the second quarter, tied its second-largest comeback win in franchise history.
Kayla McBride had 20 points with five 3-pointers to lead Minnesota (30-8), which lost for just the second time in 20 home games this season. A win would have secured the Lynx home court advantage for the entire playoffs.
“We didn’t have a level of aggression that Seattle had, especially defensively,” Lynx coach Cheryl Rev said. “They made their own breaks … and they kicked our butts in the second half.”
Seattle closed the third quarter on a 25-6 run over a six-minute span to take a 67-63 lead, capped by 3-pointer by Diggins with 0.6 seconds left.
The Storm scored 34 points in the frame — after scoring just 33 points in the entire first half. Seattle was 12 of 19 from the field in the third, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
Seattle made four of its 16 3-pointers in the fourth.
“It wasn’t just the third quarter; we got beat by 27 in the second half,” Reeve said. “We only won one quarter. You could feel it happening in the second quarter.”
Gabby Williams added 16 points for Seattle (21-19). Dominique Malonga and Erica Wheeler each added 13.
Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams each scored 18 points of Minnesota. Williams also had 10 assists.
“We did a pretty good job in the first two quarters.” Collier said. “In the second half we let it slip.”
“I don’t think anyone can just come in and go through the motions and beat a team, especially this late in the season,” McBride said. “Seattle is a team playing for its life.”
Minnesota outscored Seattle 25-12 in the first and then started the second on a 6-0 run for a 19-point lead. The Lynx led 46-33 at halftime behind 28 combined points from Williams and McBride. Five of Seattle’s 11 field goals in the first half were from 3-point range.
Reeve was called for a technical foul at the end of the third after Diggins appeared to be shouting at the Lynx bench following her 3-pointer.
“They wanted it more than we did tonight, and especially this late in the season,” Collier said. “We can’t let that happen.”
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