Olivia Miles made a triumphant return Saturday.
Back after missing two games with a strained calf, Miles scored 23 points, corralled a huge rebound late, and the Minnesota Lynx beat New York 90-85 at Target Center.
With the Lynx up 88-85, Courtney Williams missed a pull-up jumper with 16 seconds left. The ball bounded around for three seconds before Miles grabbed it near the corner. Rather than driving back to traffic near the rim, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft played keepaway on the dribble for five seconds before getting fouled. Two free throws provided the final Minnesota points.
“She thinks the game in a way that was not surprising at all,” said coach Cheryl Reeve.
Natasha Howard had a steal as the final seconds ticked away, and the sold-out crowd of 12,405 roared in support.
“We had to protect our home court. Our fans were amazing today,” Kayla McBride said in an on-court postgame interview. She led the team with 25 points and had four steals.
Howard had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Williams had 12 points and 12 rebounds (5 offensive) in a game Minnesota (17-6) led by 15 points midway through the third quarter.
“It’s not supposed to be easy; certainly wasn’t easy,” Reeve said.
Minnesota made a season-high 14 shots from outside the arc, including five from McBride and four from Miles.
Three straight triples by McBride gave Minnesota an 84-80 lead with 2:43 left, Marine Johannes answered with her own try for the Liberty, and Howard converted a feed from Nia Coffey to make it 86-83.
Miles made two free throws for an 88-83 lead with 52.9 seconds left before Sabrina Ionescu missed from deep on a shot that would have gotten New York within a bucket.
Once she settled in, Miles found her groove in the second quarter.
Missing her first five shots, the All-Star Game starter in two weeks sank her next four, three of which were triples. That included a 3-pointer with one second before halftime to give the Lynx a 42-32 lead.
“I liked all the shots she was getting,” Reeve said. “I liked her overall game.”
But New York’s got a pretty good guard, too.
Ionescu took over for New York (13-10) in the third quarter, scoring as many points as Minnesota in the frame.
Ionescu scored 19 of her 25 points in the third quarter, a frame that included a 21-2 Liberty run over a nearly five-minute span that gave New York a 62-58 lead before a late McBride triple got the Lynx within a point with 10 minutes to play.
“We just couldn’t find our footing; they were playing off our misses. We got to the fourth quarter and steadied ourselves,” Reeve said.
Briefly
Before the game, Gov. Tim Walz presented a proclamation designating Saturday as “Cheryl Reeve Day” in Minnesota to honor the coach, who set a WNBA record with her 380th regular season win Wednesday.
Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty draws a foul against Kayla McBride #21 of the Minnesota Lynx in the first quarter at Target Center on July 11, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)