Napheesa Collier had 20 points and nine rebounds, Kayla McBride scored 19 points, and the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx nearly squandered a 29-point lead before holding off the Portland Fire 85-81 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Minnesota built a big lead by starting the second quarter on a 23-4 run for a 49-27 edge. The Lynx extended the lead to 64-35 \u2014 their largest of the game \u2014 with 8:16 left in the third.<\/p>\n
Portland rallied by scoring the opening 13 points of the fourth \u2014 capping a 29-4 run spanning the third-quarter break \u2014 to get within 68-64. The Fire had a chance to tie it at 78 with 1:44 remaining, but Emily Engstler went 1 of 2 at the free throw line to keep it a one-point deficit.<\/p>\n
McBride made a driving layup with 1:25 remaining for an 80-77 lead, and neither team scored again until Minnesota\u2019s Olivia Miles sank two free throws with 26.5 seconds left for a five-point lead.<\/p>\n
Minnesota (28-7), which has already clinched a playoff berth, has won 13 of its last 14 games.<\/p>\n
Miles finished with 13 points and Natasha Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota. McBride, coming off a career-high 43-point performance with 10 3-pointers on Sunday, made three of Minnesota\u2019s six 3-pointers.<\/p>\n
Bridget Carleton led Portland (13-20) by scoring 16 points against her former team. Megan DiLeo added 12 points and Teja Oblak had 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n
Portland had 10 players score in the first half, but none of them had more than four points.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Lynx: At Las Vegas on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Fire: At Seattle on Friday.<\/p>\n