Maya Caldwell leads balanced Lynx to 100-72 rout of expansion Tempo
Reserve Maya Caldwell led a balanced attack with 16 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Toronto Tempo 100-72 on Thursday night.
It was the worst loss for the expansion Tempo, who fell to 3-3 after winning their previous two. Toronto's other two losses were by three and four points. Minnesota's first four games were decided by a total of 16 points.
Courtney Williams scored 15 points, rookie Olivia Miles had 14 and Natasha Howard and Kayla McBride each had 13 for the Lynx (3-2).
Kia Nurse led Toronto with 23 points off the bench and rookie Kiki Rice added 11. Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey, who combine for more than 45 points a game — both reached 30 in a win over Phoenix on Sunday — were held to nine. Each picked up a pair of fouls in the first quarter.
The Lynx shot 55%, had a 46-25 rebounding advantage and outscored the Tempo 42-24 in the paint. Minnesota went 10 of 24 behind the arc.
The Tempo shot 34%. They made 12 3-pointers but only shot 29% from distance.
The Lynx went on a 9-0 run and raced to a 27-14 lead after one quarter. Not much changed in the second quarter and the Lynx led 53-32 at halftime.
The Lynx stretched the lead to 76-50 after three quarters.
Tempo: Host fellow expansion team Portland on Saturday.
Lynx: At Chicago on Saturday.