McBride, Hiedeman lead Lynx over Dream

Minnesota guard Natisha Hiedeman scored 16 fourth quarter points to secure the Lynx 86-79 victory over the Atlanta Dream in front of an announced crowd of 15,013 during the annual “Camp Day” game on Wednesday afternoon at Target Center.

This was a tight game that was fought between a 14-point spread as the largest lead for both teams was seven points, while there were 15 ties and 13 lead changes before the Lynx finally broke the final tie in their favor.

The scoring started with a layup from Dream guard Haley Jones to give the visitors the early 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, Minnesota guard Kayla McBride put up a floater for her first points of the game. The game was tied 2-2 with 7:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Atlanta center Tina Charles broke the tie on a layup, but Lynx forward Bridget Carleton then gave the home team their first lead by hitting her first three-point shot of the game Lynx guard Courtney Williams hit a midrange jump shot to make the score 7-4.

Dream guard Rhyne Howard checked into the game at the 4:41 mark after forward Allisha Gray was fouled by Carleton. Gray made both free throws to cut the deficit to one point. This was Howard’s first opportunity to play since getting injured on June 19 on this very court. It only took 26 seconds for Howard to get into the box score. Her jump shot gave the Dream an 8-7 lead.

With Atlanta leading by four points with 1:39 remaining in the opening quarter, McBride attempted a three-point shot in front of the Dream bench and was fouled by Jones. McBride made all three free shots to make the score 13-12.

Lynx forward Diamond Miller made two free throws to give Minnesota their second lead of the game, after getting fouled by Howard. Atlanta responded with a 6-0 run with a three-pointer by guard Aerial Powers and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by forward Nia Coffey. Atlanta led 19-14 at the quarter break.

Minnesota shooting went cold at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second. They missed all seven of their last shots including what should have been an easy layup after Miller recorded a steal and was fouled by Jones while attempting a layup. Miller missed both free throws. The drought ended when Carleton hit her second three-pointer of the game to make the score 19-17 with 8:05 remaining in the half. It was the first field goal for Minnesota since 3:24 in the first quarter.

Williams scored a layup a minute later to tie the game 19-19 but a Coffey put back layup put Atlanta back in the lead. Williams hit a jump shot to tie the game again. For the rest of the quarter Atlanta would break the tie and Minnesota would answer and the game would be tied again.

The Dream had a 33-30 lead by 1:39 left on the clock but a McBride three-pointer tied it back up. Atlanta forward Cheyenne Parker Tyus hit a jump shot with 51.2 seconds left in the frame to break the tie for the final time in the first half. Atlanta led 35-33 at halftime. The 33 first half points are a Lynx season low.

Minnesota center Alanna Smith opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to give the Lynx a one-point lead. However, she fouled Howard on the next possession, who made one of two free throws to tie the game again.

The pace of the game picked up until Smith scored on a layup with 4:45 remaining in the quarter and the score tied 48-48. The officials decided to the game. Parker-Tyus made two free throws after getting fouled by Minnesota forward Dorka Juhasz to break the tie.

McBride responded with a jump shot on an inbounds play and was fouled by guard Maya Caldwell. The three-point play put the Lynx up by a single point. This was followed with McBride shooting a layup and getting fouled by Coffey. It appeared that the momentum was with the Lynx as they now led 54-50 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

Powers knew the game was going to get out of hand if they didn’t respond, so she shot a jump shot over the arms of Hiedeman, drawing contact on the play. She made the shot and the free throw. Guard Destanni Henderson made a shot and was also fouled by Hiedeman. It was the fourth back-to-back “And One” and put the Dream up by two points.

Parker-Tyus then got into the action with a layup, and then was fouled by Juhasz on the next trip down the court. The two Parker-Tyus free throws capped a 10-0 Atlanta run and gave the visitors the lead. Hiedeman was fouled by Parker-Tyus and made both free throws just before the quarter ended. Atlanta led 60-56 at the end of the third quarter.

Howard hit a three-pointer to begin the final frame and to give the Dream their largest lead of the game at 63-56. It was Hiedeman who answered with a three-pointer of her own.

Juhasz made a layup and was fouled by Powers, but missed the free shot. The Lynx deficit was down to two points. Dream forward Naz Hillmon answered with a layup.

Hiedeman and Powers exchanged three-pointers. Hiedeman then made a jump shot, which was followed by a Howard foul on Juhasz. This time, the Lynx forward made both free shots and the game was tied 68-68 with 6:38 left in the game.

Minnesota finally took the lead a minute later with a three-pointer by Hiedeman to make the score in 73-72 in favor of the Lynx. However, Parker-Tyus made a layup to put the Dream up by one. Carlton hit a three-pointer with 4:01 on the clock to make the score 76-74 and the Lynx stayed in the lead for good.

The Minnesota defense kicked into a higher gear while the Atlanta offense stalled. The Dream went 0-5 shooting while Hiedeman scored a jump shot and a layup on back-to-back possessions. The Lynx led 81-76 to attain their largest lead of the game with 1:27 left on the clock.

The teams traded baskets for the rest of the game until Jones fouled out with 10 seconds remaining and put McBride on the line for two free throws. The Lynx guard converted both of them, scoring her 30th point in the game. Minnesota won 86-79.

Minnesota went 29-for-75 (38.7 percent) from the field; 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) from three-point range; and 17-for-23 (73.9 percent) from the free throw line. They gave up nine turnovers which led to eight Atlanta points.

“Hiedeman made a big difference with her playmaking, her pace and obviously her shot making. I think what she did today is what we envisioned her to do. Not that she has to score 18, I know that she had another big scoring game,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “What I appreciated was how locked in she was to the play calling, her play making, getting easier shots for others. A lot of conversations (with her) over the course of a little over a half a season, and this game I thought she grabbed a hold of that.”

Atlanta went 29-for-59 (49.2 percent) from the field; 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) from three-point range; and 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the free throw line. They turned the ball over 17 times leading to 15 Minnesota points.

“We just got to continue to play hard, continue to fight and play together. That’s been the biggest message,” said Dream head coach Tanisha Wright. “And then continue to focus on the small things that make a big impact with the game.”

Atlanta led 38-26 in the points-in-the-paint battle, while Minnesota had the 12-7 advantage in second chance points and 18-10 in fast break points. There were 15 ties and 13 lead changes during the game.

Kayla McBride led Minnesota with 30 points. Natisha Hiedeman added 18 points with 16 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Alanna Smith added 13 points and led the Lynx with 10 rebounds. Courtney Williams dished out a game-high nine assists.

“Everything was just going my way, honestly. My teammates were finding me the ball. We were just playing together,” said Hiedeman. “Anybody could step up and tonight it was my night. I’m just super excited and happy to see the ball go through.”

“My teammates are always there for me so it just helps when you play with such a good group. It makes everything easy. It was a good day for all of us,” she added.

Atlanta was led by 16 points from Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. Rhyne Howard, in her return to action after a month out for injury, scored 15 points and led the Dream with nine rebounds. Tina Charles added 12 points, Aerial Powers notched 11, and Destanni Henderson dished out a team-high four assists.

The Olympic break is now upon us. Every team in the league has played at least 24 games but no more than 27 games, with most teams having played 25 games in the 40 game schedule. The Minnesota Lynx (17-8) remain in third place and will host the Washington Mystics (6-19) at 7 p.m. at Target Center when play resumes on Thursday Aug. 15.  The Atlanta Dream (7-17) dropped their eighth contest in a row. They will host the Seattle Storm (17-8) at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday Aug. 16.

Prior to the U.S. National Team heading to the Olympics, the WNBA All-Stars and Team USA will face off for an exhibition this weekend. The WNBA skills challenge and three-point shooting contest will take place starting at 8 p.m. CT from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., Friday night. The WNBA All-Stars versus the U.S. Women’s National Team will be played on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT also at the Footprint Center.