Courtney Williams bounced back with a 23-point performance, Alanna Smith added 16 points and seven rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx improved to 5-0 by beating the Seattle Storm 82-77 Tuesday night at Target Center.

Kayla McBride, an all-star guard who missed the first four games for personal reasons, provided an early spark at both ends of the floor and was clutch with four late free throws to secure the win. She finished with 15 points, including a trio of treys, in 30 minutes.

Napheesa Collier finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five first-quarter steals. It’s her first time scoring fewer than 20 points this season.

It wasn’t always pretty, but a win is a win.

The Lynx led by double digits early, but midgame offensive inconsistency, especially from outside, allowed Seattle to stay within striking distance for much of the second half.

Williams missed all 11 shots she took in Friday’s win over Connecticut but was not shy about letting it fly. Nine of her points came in the final 10 minutes, including back-to-back jumpers for a 76-69 lead with 2:16 left.

She was 10 for 18 from the field and added five rebounds and four assists.

McBride made four free throws in the final 23 seconds, and Collier added a pair with 11.5 seconds to play.

Gabby Williams led Seattle (3-2) with 20 points, and Skylar Diggins had 18.

Seattle, which had 10 first-half turnovers against an aggressive Lynx defense that led to 17 Minnesota points, had just four in the second half.

The quintet of Collier, Smith, Bridget Carleton, McBride and Williams was last season’s most successful starting group, with the Lynx going 23-6 in such games.

Early on they played just like it was old times, as the Lynx raced out to a 26-11 lead after one quarter, making 11 of 19 shots and converting seven Storm turnovers into 13 points.

An 8-0 Seattle run got the Storm within seven before a Smith trey made it a 39-29 game at the break.

TAMPA, Fla. — Kody Clemens hit his fifth home run of the season, with father Roger Clemens watching from the stands, and the Minnesota Twins beat Tampa Bay 4-2 Tuesday night to stop the Rays’ season-high, six-game winning streak.

A 29-year-old son of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Kody Clemens extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games when he homered off leading off the second against Taj Bradley (4-4).

Joe Ryan (5-2) won his fourth straight decision, allowing one run and five hits in six innings. Jhoan Duran worked around a walk in the ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances, throwing six of 21 pitches 100 mph or higher.

Carlos Correa had three hits for the Twins, who went ahead on Brooks Lee’s first-inning sacrifice fly. Lee hit into a run-scoring forceout in the sixth, and Kameron Misner had a run-scoring groundout in the seventh.

Bradley (4-4) allowed three runs — two earned — and five hits in seven innings, matching his season high.

A crowd of 10,046 was the Rays’ 33rd sellout in 36 games at Steinbrenner Field, the Rays’ temporary home this season. Tampa Bay, which dropped back to .500 at 27-27, is 17-19 at home going into Wednesday’s finale of a nine-game homestand.

Key moment

Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe fielded Lee’s sixth-inning chopper with runners on first and second and sailed his throw to second over leaping shortstop Jose Caballero for an error that allowed Ryan Jeffers to score.

Key stat

Ryan’s walk to Misner in the second inning was his 10th in 11 starts the season. Twins pitchers have walked the fewest batters in the major leagues this season.

Up next

Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen (3–4, 2.60 ERA) starts Wednesday against Twins RHP Pablo López (4–2, 2.31 ERA), who has held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in eight of nine starts this season.

A community group is calling for Target to apologize and for St. Paul police to investigate the making of a false report after two young men were accused of having a gun at the retailer’s Midway store, leading officers to draw their guns and handcuff them.

Police said they found no weapons on the men and they were released.

“These young brothers clearly went through a traumatic situation,” said Nasiy Nasir X, national president of the Lion of Judah Armed Forces and national minister of information of the New Black Panther Nation, at a press conference outside the Midway Target on Tuesday.

Nasir said the “falsified” information provided to police could have led to the young men being shot by police.

Police: Staff made report about gun

On Friday, Terrence Gleason, 19, and Ronald Trice, 20, said they were passing out information about the auto detailing business they work for.

A St. Paul officer who was working contracted overtime at the Target on University Avenue was notified around noon about two people putting flyers on vehicles, according to Alyssa Arcand, a police spokeswoman. The business requested the two men leave. The officer asked them to do so, which they did.

“The officer was then told by business security that security staff had observed behavior that led them to believe one of the men was in possession of a firearm,” Arcand said in a statement. “The staff also told officers about statements they heard the men say.”

One of the young men was videotaping on his cellphone and, after the officer initially drove away, he videoed the other man lifting up his sweatshirt to show the business logo on his shirt underneath, which was to say “we’re just here at work,” Nasir said.

After the men left the Target parking lot, police stopped them in another parking lot along University Avenue.

Nasir said they’re demanding that the employee or employees who made the report about the gun be terminated and they also want to meet with the St. Paul Police Department about how false reports should be addressed.

“Why didn’t the St. Paul Police Department do a full, thorough investigation and why didn’t they look at the cameras … before they (approached) … these young brothers with their guns drawn?” Nasir asked. He also questioned how police would approach a person who had a permit to carry a gun, if they received a falsified police report.

In the department’s statement, Arcand said: “Because the information provided by security staff was believed to be true, officers had a responsibility to respond at the time.”

A Target spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.

Moms want safety for their sons

Trice said he thought he was going to die during the encounter with police. “I’ve been thinking about that all the time.”

“And this man has a child,” Gleason said of Trice, whose 6-month-old daughter was also at the press conference with him.

Gleason’s first cousin was Philando Castile, who was fatally shot in Falcon Heights by a St. Anthony police officer in 2016.

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“I don’t want my son to feel like he’s not safe here,” said Gleason’s mother, Nichole Castile. “We’ve been through this before in our lifetime feeling that way.”

Trice’s mother, Felicia Smith, said she was born and raised in St. Paul and has lived in the same house for 27 years.

“For my kids in my neighborhood to be targeted all the time when this is our Target,” she said. “… Target needs to be held accountable just as much as St. Paul police need to be held accountable.”

By MATTHEW LEE and ANNIE MA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.

A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document.

A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.

“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued, the cable says.

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Asked about the suspension at a briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas.

“We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Bruce said.

The move, first reported by Politico, is the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students.

Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, removing the college from the program that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. That effort was quickly challenged in court and for now is blocked by a federal judge.

This spring the administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, leading some to leave the U.S. out of fear of deportation. After many students filed successful legal challenges, the administration said it was restoring the students’ legal status. But the government also expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward.

President Donald Trump’s previous administration stepped up scrutiny of all visa applicants, introducing reviews of their social media accounts. The policy remained during President Joe Biden’s administration.

An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding-school or exchange students’ plans to enroll in summer and fall terms.

A downturn in enrollment of international students could hurt university budgets. To make up for cuts in federal research funding, some colleges shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.