Lynx fend off Wings for 87-76 victory and best start since 2020

Take a look at the boxscore of the Lynx’s 87-76 victory over Dallas at Target Center on Sunday night and see if you can find the player most responsible for the win.

Napheesa Collier, who scored 24, grabbed 14 rebounds and had four assists, three steals and a block? No.

Kayla McBride, who scored 25, who made five of eight three-pointers, who guarded Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale all night long? No.

It was a 5-5 guard who had played small minutes while appearing in only four of the Lynx’s first six games.

“We just introduced you to Olivia Époupa,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.

Proof boxscores might lie: Époupa played just under 14 minutes, only scored four points, only had one rebound and two assists. And she completely, utterly changed the course of the game.

In a back-and-forth game, the Lynx led by just four points after three quarters, then by just two after Ogunbowale scored 50 seconds into the fourth.

Enough.

Starting with Dorka Juhász’s layup with 8:45 to go until Collier scored on a put-back with less than 5 minutes left, the Lynx scored 16 unanswered points, turning a tight game into an easy victory.

Collier had nine points in that run. McBride had five, including a three-pointer.

Époupa? She was the engine.

The Lynx forced 11 Dallas turnovers in the fourth quarter and turned them into 14 points. Minnesota had seven steals in the quarter; Époupa had four of them. With her quickness she denied passes, forcing the Dallas backcourt off their spots — including Ogunbowale at times. Ogunbowale entered the game leading the league in scoring, averaging 27.5 points per game. She scored 21, but she needed 17 shots to do it.

Époupa sped up the Lynx offense, which is a good thing. According to Reeve, Époupa also sped up the Dallas offense in a not-so-good way.

“Defense is the key if you want to achieve great things,” said Époupa, a 30-year-old from France in her first WNBA season. “We have high expectations as a team. I try to push my team, bring energy.”

The Lynx (6-2) are off to their best start since starting the 2020 season 6-2 as well.

BOXSCORE: Lynx 87, Dallas 76

It wasn’t easy for much of Sunday’s game against the big Wings (3-4).

Dallas used its size to score 48 points in the paint, but only 10 came after halftime. The Wings also had the edge in rebounding and second-chance points.

But the Lynx defense forced a season-high 28 turnovers, scoring 30 points off them, nearly half of them coming in the final 10 minutes with Époupa leading the way.

“She was the momentum change,” said Collier, who had her third consecutive point-rebound double-double and her sixth in eight games. “Steal after steal, deflections, being such a pest on defense. Getting us out in transition.”

Her play was key on a night when Courtney Williams (who scored 10 points with five rebounds and four assists) turned the ball over five times and backup point guard Natisha Hiedeman struggled at times.

But as the Lynx ran away with the game in the fourth, both Williams and Hiedeman were cheering for Époupa.

“This is a team that’s here for each other,” Époupa said. “Very great chemistry. I would say this is teamwork. We all have worked together since the beginning. I’m not the game-changer. The team was there, the defense was there collectively.”

Reeve might disagree. About 5 minutes into the game Reeve went over to Époupa and told her to be ready. Finally, her time came.

“She is always going to play with that energy,” Reeve said. “She’ll give you that defense, seek the paint, make plays, find shooters.”

Reeve tied Bill Laimbeer — her former boss when both were with the Detroit Shock — for second-most WNBA regular-season victories with 306.

“I don’t feel good until I have one more than Bill Laimbeer,” Reeve joked. “Then we can talk.”