Cheryl Reeve Finally Grabs the WNBA Wins Record After Two Near Misses

Cheryl Reeve waited two extra games to get here. She finally did.

The Minnesota Lynx head coach secured her 380th regular-season win on Wednesday night, taking the all-time record outright with an 86-80 victory over the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville. Reeve, 59, has now passed Mike Thibault for the most wins in WNBA history. Her career record sits at 380-196.

The Lynx had dropped their last two outings, both of which could have been the record-setting night. Wednesday looked like it might slip away too when Connecticut led by five at the end of the third quarter. But Minnesota flipped the script in the fourth, outscoring the Sun 26-15. That 11-point swing turned a potential third straight loss into a piece of history.

Kayla McBride led the way with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including two threes, plus four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Natasha Howard, Courtney Williams and Dorkha Juhasz each added 12 points. Rookie Olivia Miles sat out with an injury.

Reeve has been running the Lynx sideline since 2010. That tenure includes four WNBA championships and four Coach of the Year awards. Before taking over in Minnesota, she worked as an assistant with the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers and Detroit Shock.

She started the season needing seven wins to break the record. The Lynx are now 16-6, which is 10 games above .500. That’s not bad for a team that some people thought was in a transition year after losing certain veterans from last season’s roster. But Reeve has this group playing hard, and they’ve got enough scoring balance to make some noise in the playoffs.

The record itself is a big deal because the WNBA hasn’t had that many head coaches stick around long enough to pile up wins like this. Reeve has been consistent, smart and occasionally combative with officials. That’s basically the job description for a long-tenured coach in any league.

Next up for the Lynx is a home game against the Atlanta Dream. Reeve will go for win 381, which won’t carry the same weight but still counts the same in the standings.

She owns the record now. That part is settled.