Coach Cheryl Reeve says winless Lynx have 'lots of work to do'

After 10 minutes of Friday's game in Seattle, the Lynx appeared to have found their footing, ending the first quarter on a 17-8 run to pull within four.

But then the second quarter happened, a difficult 10-minute stretch that was a microcosm of the team's 0-4 start. The Lynx's offensive production dropped — coach Cheryl Reeve talked about the 11 deflections the defending champion Storm got in that quarter alone — and the defense followed.

By the time the half was over the Lynx were down 58-35 and the ball-moving Storm offense had scored 40 of its 58 points in the paint. The Storm led by as many as 30, and was up 29 when the Lynx finished the game 19-0 against the Storm bench.

"We have lots of work to do," Reeve said.

The Lynx were without Napheesa Collier for the first three games. They were without Aerial Powers on Friday, and will be for the foreseeable future. And the schedule has been difficult out of the stretch, with three of Minnesota's four losses coming to Seattle and New York, two of the top three teams in this young WNBA season with a combined 10-2 record entering Saturday's games.

And it doesn't get any easier Sunday, when the Lynx host first-place Connecticut at Target Center.

Collier, who scored 14 points in her season debut, talked about the frustration of how a strong week's worth of practice failed to translate into the game.

"We have to figure it out quickly," Collier said. "We have to find a way to transfer what we're doing in practice into games. Otherwise, we're just going to keep losing."

Four games into her time with the Lynx, Kayla McBride was a little more pointed in her comments.

"The biggest thing is the effort and the connectiveness," she said. "We're still trying to figure it out. We don't want to dwell on the negative stuff, what our record is, whatever it is. I truly believe in this group, this culture, this team. That's why I came here, to be a part of it. I know we're going to figure out a way to get better."

That could be difficult Sunday. The Sun (6-1) is one of the league's best defensive teams and is winning by an average of 11.1 points.

Five Connecticut players average in double figures, led by Jonquel Jones and DeWanna Bonner. Jones, who took last season off because of COVID-19 concerns, is seventh in the league in scoring (20) and first in rebounding (11.3), leading the league's best rebounding team.

"Nobody is hanging their head, saying, "Oh, woe is me,' " McBride said. "We're trying to figure this out to get better. Nobody wants to lose. We have to figure this out, and it starts with us. Thankfully, we have another game coming up Sunday in Minnesota. I'm not giving up on this group. It's how we figure out how to come together."

McBride said things would get better as the team got to know each other better, when the players learned to trust each other more, especially on defense.

"I don't think we have that." She said. "We have a little doubt in the back of our minds of who we are. That can't happen."