Lynx starters used a balanced attack to dominate before taking most, if not all, of the fourth quarter off Sunday night.

That rest will be appreciated in the busiest stretch of Minnesota’s season.

Named an All-Star Game captain earlier the day, Napheesa Collier scored 23 points and had nine rebounds in three quarters, Kayla McBride knocked down five shots from deep as part of a 20-point game, and the WNBA-leading Lynx set a season-high for points in routing last-place Connecticut 102-63 Sunday.

It’s Minnesota’s third-largest win in franchise history. The Lynx beat Indiana 111-52 on Aug. 18, 2017, and Los Angeles 114-71 on July 13, 2006.

“We were just talking about how it’s nice to not be stressed for a game finally,” Collier said as she and Courtney Williams spoke postgame. Minnesota needed overtime to win Friday in Atlanta, three days after a four-point loss in Washington.

Williams filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Alanna Smith had nine points and seven rebounds. Both played just three quarters.

The Lynx shot 50.7%, had assists on 27 of 36 baskets, and grabbed 41 rebounds, two off a season high.

“We didn’t make excuses about coming off the road or being tired or any reason to not come correct, as we say. And I thought that we largely did that,” said coach Cheryl Reeve.

It is the first of a five-games-in-eight-nights home stretch for Minnesota (14-2).

“It’s just good for us to take care of business for many reasons, so we’re not running our legs into the ground, and we’re doing the things that we need to do in reaching the goals we set for ourselves. So it is nice to catch a break where you can,” Collier said.

This stretch includes Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup final against Indiana, which includes a $500,000 prize pool. Collier expects a packed Target Center and a game with a playoff feel.

“I want that bag. Straight up. … We gonna go get that money,” Williams said. The Lynx beat New York for the hardware last season.

Concluding a four-game road trip that included two West Coast games and another in Las Vegas, Connecticut (2-15) lost its ninth straight. Connecticut shot just 34.8%, and its starting five had just 27 points on 9-for-36 shooting through three quarters.

It was a far different game than when these teams met May 23 at Target Center. That night, Minnesota scored 23 of the game’s final 25 points, including an 18-0 run, to win 76-70.

But it was again a sizable surge by the home team that proved to be the difference.

A 26-0 run that began late in the first quarter gave Minnesota a 48-17 lead less than three minutes before halftime. The Sun went 8 minutes, 7 seconds between points.

Seven Minnesota players scored as the Lynx netted the first 21 points of the second quarter. McBride had six points, including husting two-thirds of the way down the court to chase down a loose ball after a Sun pass to nobody and calmly draining a 3-pointer.

Connecticut missed its first 13 shots of the second quarter and added five turnovers before its first basket.

McBride drained a couple more treys, Collier had four points, and Williams scored in a 12-0 third quarter run to make it 65-31. The lead reached 41 in the fourth quarter.

The game was not all joy for the Lynx due to the potential loss of forward Karlie Samuelson. She left in a wheelchair early in the second quarter with a foot injury.

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State Sen. John Hoffman and his family released a statement Sunday saying that as they recover from their injuries, their thoughts are with the family of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who authorities say were slain by the same man who shot Hoffman and his wife two weeks ago.

The Hortmans were shot and killed on June 14 at their home in Brooklyn Park in an attack believed to be politically motivated. The Hortmans were among four shot by a suspected assassin now facing federal and state murder charges. Vance Boelter, 57, is also accused of shooting Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, as their daughter Hope called 911. All three survived the attack at their Champlin home. Prosecutors allege Boelter also visited the homes of two other state lawmakers he had planned to shoot.

“We are devastated by the loss of Melissa, Mark, and their dog, Gilbert,” the statement read. “Their tragic passing has left a profound sadness for all who knew them and whose lives they touched. We all watched the service; it was heartbreakingly beautiful. Our hearts are with the Hortman family in this time of immense grief.”

The statement said that Hoffman, his wife Yvette and daughter Hope were continuing to heal but face a long road ahead.

“All three of us were lined up at gunpoint. We’re continuing to recover from physical injuries and emotional trauma from this senseless act of violence,” the statement read. “Hope’s bruises from the attack continue to heal. We’re so grateful she happened to be at our house that night. There’s no doubt her call to 911 saved the lives of others.”

The statement said the family is grateful for the care and support they have received and that they know “justice will be served for both of our families as the legal process gets underway.”

“Right now, our focus is on healing and honoring the lives that were taken. To all of you who went to the State Capitol to pay your respects to Melissa, Mark and Gilbert, we want you to know we were there with you in spirit.”

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DETROIT  — When ESPN selected the Twins and Tigers to feature on Sunday Night Baseball, they were looking for a good show to broadcast to their national audience. They certainly got one — it just happened to come at the expense of the Twins.

Reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal dominated the Twins from the beginning of his seven-inning to the end, leading the Tigers to a 3-0 win over the Twins in the series finale at Comerica Park.

Skubal started his day by striking out Byron Buxton. There was a whole lot more of that coming.

The ace of the Tigers (53-32) and quite possibly the best pitcher in baseball right now, struck out eight of the first nine Twins batters he faced. Only one, Ryan Jeffers, put the ball in play, flying out to center. Two of the batters he struck out did so after he fell behind 3-0 on them.

Within that stretch, he punched out seven straight batters, most of them on low changeups. In total, he got 15 of 22 swing and misses on that pitch alone. The next time through the Twins’ lineup, they were at least able to put the bat to the ball. And yet they still came away with next to nothing.

Skubal retired the first 13 batters he faced before Ty France hit a single which fell between center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Kerry Carpenter. The fifth inning hit was the only one the Twins (40-44) could manage all night against Skubal, who later walked Christian Vázquez. Neither runner who reached advanced past first base.

Before his night was over, Skubal struck out 13 Twins, matching a career high. He got all nine in the batting order to go down swinging and got a couple of them — Harrison Bader and Brooks Lee — twice.

His brilliance meant that Chris Paddack would have had to have been nearly perfect himself to keep the Twins in the game. And while Paddack did enough to give the Twins a chance to hang around it wasn’t enough against Skubal near his best.

Paddack allowed a solo home run to Kerry Carpenter in the first inning, another solo shot to Riley Greene in the fourth and a third run on a Carpenter triple in the fifth, which ended his night.

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Matt Freese saved the U.S. men’s national soccer team from an embarrassing loss in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Minneapolis on Sunday.

The New York City FC goalkeeper made three saves on Costa Rica’s six attempts in a penalty kick shootout for the U.S. to advance through the quarterfinal stage. After his third save, he stuck out his tongue in defiance.

The U.S. will play Guatemala in a semifinal in St. Louis on Wednesday.

U.S. defender Max Arfsten had two lows and one high. The Columbus Crew left back conceded a penalty kick that allowed Costa Rica to take a 1-0 lead in the first half. Then he scored early in the second half to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. But another defensive error from Arfsten led to Costa Rica leveling the match at 2-2 in the 71st minute.

After Arfsten’s poor foul in the box, former Loons captain Francisco Calvo converted on a penalty to give Costa Rica a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Calvo was one of three players Freese denied during PKs.

Malik Tillman missed a PK for the U.S. in the 37th minute, but Diego Luna scored off a big deflection to make it 1-1 just before halftime.

Better crowd

At the start of the tournament, the U.S. couldn’t fill two much-smaller MLS stadiums, with only 12,610 in San Jose on June 15 and 11,727 in Austin on June 19.

The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington had plenty of good seats available on June 22, and the U.S. and Hait played in front of an announced attendance of 20,918.

CONCACAF announced Sunday’s attendance at 32,289, but that is less than half of the 66,200-seat capacity. No fans sat in the third deck.

‘Let the team down’

Minnesota United fans have enjoyed goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair prowess on penalty kicks over the years, especially in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs series with Real Salt Lake.

Fans of the Canadian soccer weren’t so fortunate Sunday as Guatemala won 6-5 after seven rounds of penalty kicks.

“Especially in penalties where I know I’m so good at, part of me feels like I let the team down a little bit,” St. Clair told reporters postgame. “Of course, penalties can go either way, but I know how strong I can be in those moments. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.”

St. Clair didn’t single out if one PK bothered him more, but he went the correct way on the first two penalties but shots barely eked past him.

“He guesses right on the first two and (if) he can get more of a solid hand on it, then maybe he makes a save,” coach Jesse Marsch said.  “That is how you look at penalties, right. It’s the margin for error once you get (there).”

Fellow Loons player, striker Tani Oluwaseyi, had a header saved off the line by a Guatemala fullback Aaron Herrera in the 14th minute, but Oluwasyi drew the penalty kick later in the first half after Herrera was whistled for contact in the box. Jonathan David converted from the spot.

Guatemala fans, who made up an overwhelming majority of the crowd for the first quarterfinal, booed relentlessly after the PK was awarded and converted.

With Canada’s loss, St. Clair and Oluwaseyi will rejoin the Loons with plenty of time to prepare before the away match versus FC Dallas on Friday.

Demolished on world stage

The FIFA Club World Cup was forgettable for the three MLS teams in the other major tournament in the U.S. this summer.

Inter Miami, the only team to advance out to the round of 16, were throttled in a 4-0 loss Sunday to Paris St. Germain, the UEFA Champions League winner.

Seattle and Los Angeles FC didn’t make it out of the group stage.

All three teams combined for one win, six losses and three draws, with a minus-11 goal differential.

Briefly

The tighter dimensions at U.S. Bank Stadium have been referenced as a reason why the FIFA World Cup will not come to Minnesota next summer. The standard dimensions are 115 yards long by 74 yards wide; U.S. Bank Stadium’s measurements were 110 by 70. … Here’s one context on Guatemala’s upset. They are ranked the 106th-best team in the world, per FIFA, while Canada comes in at 30th. Meanwhile, USA checks in at 16th and Costa Rica 54th.

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