ARLINGTON, TEXAS – After a season-best 53-point first half Sunday, it looked as if the Lynx were going to do what they always do when they play the Dallas Wings — win.
But Dallas erased a 12-point halftime deficit and scored eight of the game's final 10 points to beat the Lynx 89-86 at College Park Center.
Minnesota had won 12 in a row overall against the Wings and their predecessor, the Tulsa Shock, and 17 in a row on their home floor — the longest road winning streak in WNBA history for one team against a single opponent.
Their last loss in the series was on June 21, 2015, at Target Center.
Their last road loss in the series was on June 4, 2010.
And they had won 32 of the past 34 meetings.
"Well, it's like I told the team," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "This is what you expect on the road. You expect a team to make their runs, right? Fourth quarter was miserable for us, giving up 26 points."
The Lynx, already without the injured Seimone Augustus, Jessica Shepard and Karima Christmas-Kelly, played without starting forward Damaris Dantas (calf). Dantas scored 20 points in the teams' first meeting of the season on June 1.
Dallas rookie Arike Ogunbowale, the fifth overall pick in this year's draft out of Notre Dame, scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half, bouncing back from one of the worst shooting games in WNBA history.
Ogunbowale finished 7-for-12 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. She was coming off a 2-for-23 shooting night in Friday's 69-68 loss to New York — the worst percentage in league history for any player attempting at least 20 shots.
"I told them at halftime we aren't going to make any excuses and giving up 53 points in a half is ridiculous. … No excuses, you have to come out, dig down deep and make plays defensively," Dallas coach Brian Agler said.
Dallas' largest deficit was 14 points after Danielle Robinson's opening basket of the second half. But the Wings then started to chip away. A 13-0 run put them up 73-69 early in the four quarter.
The Lynx went back ahead with a 7-0 run, and the teams traded the lead five more times in the final two minutes.
The Lynx's last lead was at 86-84 on Sylvia Fowles' basket with 44 seconds left.
Kayla Thornton, who finished with a career-high 17 points, hit a three-pointer with 35 seconds left to give Dallas the lead for good at 87-86.
Robinson missed a half-court heave at the buzzer.
Dallas improved to 4-7 after beginning the season 0-5.
The Lynx (6-6) have lost five of seven after giving up their highest point total of the season.
All five Lynx starters scored in double figures.
The Lynx were playing their first game since it was reported that guard Odyssey Sims was arrested for drunken driving on June 6. Sims took her normal spot in the starting lineup and had 23 points and eight assists.
Robinson added a season-high 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, and she tied a career high by going 2-for-5 from three-point range.
In her first start of the season, Stephanie Talbot finished with a season-high 13 points.
