Lynx winning streak ends at seven with blowout loss at Dallas

The Lynx entered Friday night’s game as the WNBA’s hottest team. Seven straight wins, moving up the standings, scoring in bunches, defending well.

That came to an end in Arlington, Texas.

The Lynx struggled on both ends in a 94-76 loss to Dallas. They shot south of 40%, let Dallas shoot nearly 50. They knew the Wings wanted to pound the ball inside and couldn’t stop it, being outscored 50-20 there. They looked out of kilter all night, turning the ball over 14 times, enabling Dallas to build a 25-5 edge on points off turnovers.

This was not the most one-sided loss of the season for the Lynx (23-9). But it might have been the most disappointing. It was also the second double-digit loss to the Wings (9-22), who have now won three games in a row and no longer reside as the last-place team in the WNBA.

“We physically didn’t put our bodies on the line tonight,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said in a postgame Zoom call with reporters. “At either end of the floor. Physically we weren’t able to compete.”

To compound the problem, starting center Alanna Smith turned an ankle in the first half. She returned to play, but was on the court for just three-plus minutes in the second half, on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.

Like adding injury to insult.

“There just wasn’t a moment when we found our rhythm on defense,” said Kayla McBride, who scored 14 points, but shouldered the blame for allowing Wings star Arike Ogunbowale to amass 25 points and eight assists.

“We rely so much on being able to get stops,” McBride said. “And we didn’t. There is no excuse for that. Throughout the course of the season we’ve found a way. Tonight we just didn’t have it.”

The loss dropped the Lynx into a virtual tie for second place with Connecticut with eight games left in the regular season.

Five Wings players scored in double figures. Teaira McCowan had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. Satou Sabally had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Natasha Howard scored 17.

Napheesa Collier led the Lynx with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

“We were pretty easy to play against,” Reeve said. “We didn’t execute any part of our defensive game plan with any passion or energy. They had their way with us. Tonight it was easy for them.”

Except for a five-minute stretch of the second quarter. Down 12 after Sabally’s three-point play, the Lynx finished the half on an 18-5 run to take a one-point halftime lead, with McBride scoring nine.

But then the Wings came out and started the third quarter with a 20-7 run and never looked back. Dallas led by nine entering the fourth, and then started the fourth 9-1.

The Lynx were outscored 55-35 in the second half. It was the most points scored in a half by a Lynx opponent this season. And the Wings did it by making 22 of 38 shots and six of 10 threes in the final 20 minutes.

“Again, physically we weren’t able to compete,” Reeve said. “They defended us hard. We didn’t have a way about us that was collective, physically tough. We seemed to second-guess everything, defensively, offensively.”

The Lynx don’t have a long time to get back in rhythm. They host Chicago on Sunday afternoon at Target Center. McBride, for one, can’t wait.

“We want to regroup, get back to our identity on defense,” she said. “It’s kind of a wake-up call. There are no easy games in this league. We can’t just rely on our offense. We’re built on our defense.”