Lynx lose to Storm 91-63 as Kayla McBride stands alone on offense

On Friday night in Seattle, Lynx All-Star Kayla McBride scored 27 points. She made seven of 13 shots overall and six of 12 three-pointers.

Just imagine how ugly this one would have been without all that.

The Seattle Storm demolished the Lynx 91-63. Other than McBride, the Lynx — with star Napheesa Collier missing her third consecutive game because of an injured left foot — couldn’t seem to make a shot. At the other end, the Lynx played some of the most disjointed porous defense of the season.

“They had their way with us,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Nneka [Ogwumike] had her way with us. We had no resiliency, defensively, at all. The level of trust — our identity — we didn’t have it. Seattle played great. They’re probably disappointed we didn’t make this a better game.”

And it all started so well. Forcing turnovers, making shots, the Lynx jumped to an early 9-2 lead.

Over the next 15 minutes, the Lynx were outscored 46-21.

The Lynx went the first half of the second quarter without a point. Ditto for the first three-plus minutes of the third.

Down 16 at halftime, the Lynx fought back to within 10 on McBride’s sixth three with 4:46 left in the third. But they were outscored 29-11 the rest of the way. It was the first time in four tries this season Seattle (15-8) beat the Lynx (16-7). Up 16 after three quarters, Seattle opened the fourth 8-0, prompting Reeve to keep her starters on the bench.

“We beat a team three times,” McBride said. “On their court, you can’t come out flat like that. Collectively we didn’t have the mindset of doing what it takes to come out and win on the road. We can’t let that happen.”

The Lynx shot a season-low 30.6% and made seven of 30 three-point attempts. Take McBride out of that mix and the Lynx shot 24.5% and made just one of 18 threes.

For all that, it was the defense that disappointed the most. The Storm muscled the Lynx in the paint. Ogwumike had 16 points and seven boards on 10-for-14 shooting. Skylar Diggins-Smith had 10 points and 12 assists. Sami Whitcomb came off the bench for 14 points. In all, the Storm had five players in double figures, the Lynx one.

McBride said struggles on the offensive end trickled into the defense. But mainly, the Lynx just didn’t have the necessary energy to play a good opponent on the road.

“No matter what’s going on, we want to be the Lynx, the best version of ourselves,” McBride said. “We can’t let this happen. That was one of the first times I felt that with our group. We don’t want that energy to be us, and it won’t be us again.”

BOXSCORE: Seattle 91, Lynx 63

The Lynx, now 2-3 in their past five games, have two more games before the Olympic break. Both of them at home, with Collier apt to miss them both. The first is a nationally televised game against Indiana and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark on Sunday.

That doesn’t leave much time to move past this loss.

“Like [McBride] said, we can’t have a game like this again,” Courtney Williams said. “It’s on us. Our energy, our togetherness, all the way around. We understand this is not the team we want to be. We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror, flush it and be ready when we get home.”

Said McBride: “We want to go into the break doing well, having momentum. Being able to go back and have the last two games at home, it’s a chance for us to get our mojo back.”

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.