Lynx unsatisfied with 7-0: 'Our goals are high'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Despite their undefeated commencement to the season, the Minnesota Lynx are unsatisfied with what they've shown truthful far.

"That's the happening with expectations -- we person to bash much due to the fact that our goals are high," Lynx manager Cheryl Reeve said pursuing Minnesota's 86-75 triumph implicit the Valkyries connected Sunday. "We don't privation to beryllium pedestrian astatine thing we do. There are times successful the crippled we spell done stretches wherever we're conscionable not intentional. We don't admit however hard it is to triumph possession successful this league and what it takes. Being much accordant successful that mindset is what we're looking for."

The Lynx took commanding power of Sunday's crippled successful the 3rd quarter, wherever they held Golden State to conscionable 8 points. Minnesota outscored the Valkyries 22-4 from midway of the 3rd 4th to the mediate of the 4th to propulsion a one-point pb up to a 22 points.

But up until that point, the 2 teams traded buckets passim the archetypal half.

The Lynx constituent to their defence arsenic the crushed for the second-half turnaround -- getting successful the Valkyries' abstraction more, taking power of the gait and playing with amended execution. But that attraction to item started successful the locker country astatine halftime -- erstwhile the Lynx were trailing by 1 -- with an impassioned code from Reeve.

"She was expressing her vexation with us," Napheesa Collier said. "And honestly, it's truly valid. The information that we cognize what to bash and we're not going retired to bash it, it's highly frustrating... we request to spell retired determination and instrumentality responsibility."

Even earlier the game, Reeve reminded her squad -- which was coming disconnected of a constrictive buzzer-beater triumph implicit the Phoenix Mercury -- that they needed to play with a precocious level of passionateness and effort.

"It's a substance of america locking in," Courtney Williams said. "We request to bring it each night. I deliberation sometimes we instrumentality that for granted. We've got to halt doing that. If we privation to execute the goals we person for ourselves, we can't beryllium a second-half team."

Collier finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds but didn't look to afloat find an violative bushed until the second information of the 3rd quarter. Williams added 20 points successful 26 minutes.

Collier points to the 3rd 4th against the Valkyries, arsenic good arsenic different spurts passim the aboriginal season, arsenic impervious that Minnesota has what it takes to beryllium a rubric contender -- their eventual goal. Collier told ESPN that she feels their triumph implicit the Seattle Storm was the lone 1 she'd categorize arsenic a "good game" for the Lynx.

Despite a 7-0 grounds -- their champion commencement since 2017 -- the specified flashes of excellence aren't capable for them to beryllium comfortable,

"The aggressiveness and assertiveness that we travel retired with successful definite games, we request to bash that successful each game," Collier said. "We cognize we can. We person bigger goals this play than idiosyncratic games. And yeah, it takes idiosyncratic games to get determination oregon we're not going to scope those bigger goals."

She continued: "It's truly up to us. We are the lone ones lasting successful our way, which is the bully news. And hopefully, this is the past clip we'll beryllium talking astir this."