Lynx Win Fifth Straight, But Miles Exits With Ankle Injury

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The Minnesota Lynx won their fifth straight game Wednesday night, beating the Golden State Valkyries 77-66 in San Francisco, but the win came with a scare.

Rookie point guard Olivia Miles had 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds before turning her left ankle midway through the fourth quarter. Miles went down after stepping on teammate Napheesa Collier’s foot, stayed on the floor for several minutes, then walked off under her own power. She went to the locker room briefly and returned to the bench, but did not check back in. Head Coach Cheryl Reeve did not have an update on Miles after the game.

Kayla McBride also scored 20 points and hit her franchise-record 106th 3-pointer of the season. Collier added 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Minnesota controlled the game early, holding Golden State to 13 points in each of the first two quarters and taking a 41-26 lead into halftime. The Lynx led by as many as 22 points before the Valkyries used a 13-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to cut the deficit to seven. McBride answered each time, scoring 10 of Minnesota’s 23 fourth-quarter points.

Veronica Burton led Golden State with 14 points and seven assists. The Valkyries (25-10) have now lost all seven regular-season meetings with Minnesota since entering the league last year.

The Lynx improved to 30-7, have won 15 of their last 16 and are 11-1 on the road against Western Conference opponents. The win pushed their lead over second-place Golden State to four games.

Minnesota visits the Washington Mystics Friday, August 21st at 6:30 p.m., then hosts the Valkyries in a rematch Monday, August 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Target Center.