Lynx pull away from Storm 102-93 in double overtime for 2-0 start to season

With the clock and the Lynx lead winding down late in regulation, Kayla McBride missed two free throws that might have clinched the game.

With 2.7 seconds left in the first overtime, Napheesa Collier went to the line with the Lynx down a point. Make, miss, a second overtime.

But in a 102-93 double-overtime Lync victory over the Storm in the 2024 home opener at Target Center, redemption was just another overtime away.

Both McBride and Collier, co-captains, scored five points in the Lynx’s 14-5 run to finish the game. First Collier and then McBride hit three-pointers to start that second OT, putting the Lynx up for good.

The two of them proved just how quickly atonement can be achieved.

“We have a lot of trust here,” said McBride, who apologized to her team before the first OT began. “Even with all the new faces and people, there is so much trust in our fight to win. Sometimes things happen. We’re human. Coach didn’t say anything to either of us. Just go out and win the game.”

The Lynx did, producing back-to-back victories over the Storm to start the season, the team’s first 2-0 start since 2019.

Collier’s line of 29 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals is a statline only matched in league history by Tina Charles and Candace Parker. She scored 17 points after halftime, seven in the fourth quarter, five in both OTs despite playing the final 10-plus minutes with five fouls. Alanna Smith had 16 points, five rebounds, three steals and tied a franchise record with six blocks, something only done by two other players — Collier (twice) and Vanessa Hayden in 2005.

In a statistically wacky game, what really mattered is that both McBride and Collier ultimately made the difference.

“When that happens, we take the burden of that,’’ Collier said. “It made me fight harder. If we lose this game, it’s on my shoulders. We got another opportunity and we didn’t want to waste that.”

The result is a 2-0 start after a few seasons of difficult beginnings. It was also a home victory, a focus of coach Cheryl Reeve after the team went 9-11 at Target Center in 2023.

“The most important thing — and we talked about it today — was win by any means necessary,” Reeve said. “Winning at home. We had to find a way to be successful at home.”

What a strange game. The Lynx set a franchise record with 18 steals, but their 27 turnovers were second-most in team history. The two teams combined for a league-record 51 turnovers, but the Lynx — thanks to some great defense — emerged with a 35-22 edge on points off turnovers.

“We were really good in moments, and had some really tough moments,” Reeve said. “But we found a way.”

BOXSCORE: Lynx 102, Seattle 93

That was despite the Storm forcing OT with a 17-4 finish to regulation, including an 11-0 run to end the fourth quarter. Despite Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points before suffering an injury in the second OT. Skylar Diggins-Smith had 22 points and Jewell Loyd 20 — including three tying free throws after McBride fouled her with 15 seconds left in regulation — before fouling out in the first OT.

Finally, the Lynx got it done.

McBride opened the final OT with a steal, which led to Collier’s three. After a stop, Collier fed McBride for another three. Diggins-Smith converted on a three-point play at the other end, but McBride drove for a score, then Collier fed Smith for a three. A layup by Collier with 54.1 seconds left made it a 10-point game.

It was a gritty game, sometimes ugly. Afterward, Collier joked that the outcome was a matter of which team stunk the least, and the Lynx won that battle — barely.

“The collective will of this team is great,’’ Collier said. “We could have lost this game on free throws. We could have hung our heads. So many turnovers. But everyone had everyone’s back.”