The Minnesota Lynx beat the Portland Fire 107-74 in WNBA Commissioner's Cup play Monday night at Target Center in Minneapolis, with seven Minnesota players scoring in double figures and Nia Coffey filling the defensive stat sheet.
ESPN's game summary marked the result final and listed Minnesota as a 33-point winner. Natasha Howard led the Lynx with 18 points, while Coffey had 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, three blocks and no turnovers.
Minnesota Turns Turnovers Into A Rout
The Lynx turned Portland's 22 total turnovers into 26 points, according to ESPN's recap. That number explains the shape of the game better than another run through the scoring column.
Minnesota finished with 14 steals and five blocks. The Lynx also had 31 assists on 42 made field goals, a balance that kept the Fire from loading up on one scorer.
Howard's 18 points came in 26 minutes. Courtney Williams added 16 points, Coffey scored 15, Kayla McBride had 14, Olivia Miles had 12 and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu added 11. Napheesa Collier finished with 10 points in 18 minutes.
Coffey Helps Set The First-Quarter Tone
ESPN reported that Coffey made all three of her 3-point attempts in a 35-point first quarter, matching Minnesota's season high for any quarter. The Lynx led by as many as 35.
Coffey's line was not just shooting. She finished 6-for-9 from the field, had three steals and three blocks, and did not commit a turnover in 21 minutes, according to ESPN's box score.
Minnesota shot 42-for-77 from the field, good for 55%, and went 10-for-23 from 3-point range. The Lynx also won the rebounding count 40-27.
Portland Return Story Turns Rough
The first Portland trip to Minnesota carried a familiar face. ESPN reported that Bridget Carleton, the Fire forward selected first in the expansion draft after seven seasons with the Lynx, was honored during a break in the action along with Portland assistant coach Sylvia Fowles.
The game itself was less comfortable for Carleton. ESPN's box score listed her with three points on 1-for-9 shooting and a minus-31 rating in 26 minutes.
Portland had Carla Leite and Frieda Buhner score 10 points apiece off the bench, but the Fire shot 28-for-69 and could not keep the ball safe enough to stay attached.
ESPN reported Minnesota improved to 11-3 and 5-1 in the Commissioner's Cup round-robin schedule. Portland fell to 7-9 after a night where the final margin matched the pressure Minnesota put on the ball.