McBride scores 25, Miles 23 to lead Lynx to 90-85 win over Liberty

MINNEAPOLIS — Kayla McBride scored 14 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Olivia Miles added 23 points after missing two games and the Minnesota Lynx edged the New York Liberty 90-85 on Saturday.

Natasha Howard scored 16 points for the Lynx (17-6), who lost by 13 to the Liberty eight days earlier. Courtney Williams added 12 points.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 25 points for the Liberty (13-10), who have lost four of five games. Breanna Stewart added 17 points, Jonquel Jones had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Marine Johannes scored 14 off the bench.

Miles, coming back from a calf injury, had a steal with 1:21 to play and the Lynx up 86-83. Courtney and McBride snagged offensive rebounds before Miles hit two free throws to make it 88-83 with 53 seconds left. Miles missed a pair of free throws with 42 seconds to go.

New York answered with a basket from Jones basket before Williams put up a jumper just before the shot clock expired. She missed, but Miles grabbed the rebound and added two more free throws with eight seconds left to ice the win.

Minnesota used a 12-2 run to end the first quarter to take a 17-13 lead. Miles had 11 points in the second quarter and the Lynx led 42-32 at halftime.

Ionescu owned the third quarter with 19 points as the Liberty outscored the Lynx 30-19. A McBride jumper pushed the Minnesota lead to 56-41 midway through the quarter, but Johannes had back-to-back 3-pointers as the Liberty stormed back for a 62-61 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Up next

Liberty: Play Sunday at Toronto.

Lynx: Home on Monday against Phoenix.