Lynx rally with defense to down Golden State for 11th win in 12 games

Minnesota’s defense was huge in the fourth quarter Friday. And on a rare offensively challenging night, Olivia Miles came up big late in other ways.

The Lynx limited Golden State to just 13 points in the final frame and beat the Valkyries 81-75 in San Francisco.

Minnesota has won 11 of its past 12 games.

Golden State finished 4 of 22 from the field in the final 10 minutes, including an abysmal 2 of 13 from deep. Golden State went 12 for 40 from distance overall, a significant departure from its 36.9% mark entering the game, which was good for second-best in the association.

The Valkyries led by 12 late in the first half, but were outscored 16-3 by the Lynx around halftime and 40-29 in the final 20 minutes.

“You don’t get better when it comes easy. This was definitely a challenge for us. It just helps us to understand how to play as a team, how to handle those different moments, how to stay together,” said Nia Coffey, who led the Lynx with a season-high 22 points. “Things aren’t always going to go our way, so I think we made some good strides.”

Courtney Williams added 21 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and five assists. Playing with much enjoyment, she also blew some kisses to the crowd and made heart gestures with her hands.

“The got an amazing fan base, and they fan base not that nice,” she said smiling. “But I love it, because who don’t want to play in this type of environment?”

Kayla McBride added 17 points.

“We needed Courtney Williams and Mac to compete, compete, compete,” coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Courtney’s first five minutes were forgettable and then she played the remainder of the game exactly as we needed her to do. She provided the compete for us. The rookie needed her.”

That first-year player would be Miles, who scored just seven points on 1 of 10 shooting, the first time in her young career not reaching double digits. But Miles recorded a three-point play early in the fourth quarter and drained a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds left for a 79-75 lead.

The star point guard then blocked a 3-point try by Cecilia Zandalasini at the other end before Ola Kosu iced the game with two free throws.

“Us and them are the two best defensive teams in the league, so what she saw was actual defense,” Reeve said. “She saw physicality, she saw aggressive trapping. … Liv needed a game like this. This was a tremendous growth point for her when things don’t go your way, how do you show up? What she showed is that she’ll show up on the defensive end with kind of a game-sealing block, rebounding the basketball, closing out with free throws. She didn’t quit. … Maybe her numbers weren’t gaudy, but the impact she had on the game still was tremendous.”

The Lynx (13-3), who open a home-and-home series with Washington Sunday at Target Center, made 21 of 23 free throws, including eight of nine in the fourth quarter. The Valkyries (10-6) made just three of eight in the fourth quarter and 11 of 17 overall.

Down by 12 with under a minute to play before the half, McBride scored on a cutting layup, and after a Golden State miss, made two free throws. She then forced a Golden State turnover that led to Coffey getting fouled on a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left. With all three free throws falling, the Lynx were only down 46-41 after two quarters.