ATLANTA(AP) Candice Wiggins has picked up her production since the Minnesota Lynx lost Seimone Augustus for the season.
Wiggins scored 23 points and Nicky Anosike had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lynx to a 91-85 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night.
"She's always had it in her,'' Minnesota coach Jennifer Gillom said. "When Seimone was in, Candice would take the backrole. But now she's really stepping out to the plate and showing how good she really is.''
Wiggins is averaging 23.3 points during the winning streak, which started after Augutus' season-ending knee injury.
Charde Houston added 18 points for Minnesota (7-3), which made 13 3-pointers to win their third straight. Roneeka Hodges had 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Gillom said the Dream struggled to fight through screens, allowing Lynx shooters to get open on the perimeter. She added that Anosike's presence in the paint set everything up.
"It was an inside-out game,'' Gillom said. "We established ourselves in the post early with Nicky and it made our plays a lot easier to run on the perimeter. We got into a flow and that gave them problems.''
Iziane Castro Marques scored a career-high 31 points for the Dream (4-6), who remained one victory from eclipsing last season's total. Chamique Holdsclaw finished with 14 points, shooting 6 for 17 from the floor.
"They weren't able to stop me on transition,'' Marques said. "I took what I had from the beginning of the game and just stayed focused and tried to do as much as I could. But they just kept coming.''
The Lynx went on a 14-2 run early in the third quarter, capped by Hodges' back-to-back 3s to give them a 70-54 lead. Minnesota shot 50 percent (4 of 8) from 3-point range third, while making only two 2-point baskets during the quarter.
Rookie Renee Montgomery hit a 3 late in the fourth to give the Lynx an 89-70 lead - their largest of the game.
Hodges has totaled 64 points in the last five games after going scoreless in the previous two.
"She's at a confidence level that is unbelievable right now,'' Gillom said. "It is not going to slack off. I think it is going to continue and you are going to see a lot of that this season.''