The Lynx are a defensive-minded team, or at least, they have to be until they figure their offense out. However, that’s a place they’re comfortable with. The Lynx trust their ability to get stops that matter. That starts with their anchor in the middle, Sylvia Fowles.

In Thursday’s victory over the Mercury, Fowles held Brittney Griner to just four points on three shots. That lockdown performance set the tone for the whole team as the Lynx held the Mercury to just 56 points in a victory.

Fowles is quick to deflect and praise her teammates and opposition, but there’s a reason that Fowles loves playing against other All-Star centers—she tends to beat them.

“It’s always fun playing against BG, just because she’s so big, she’s a true five. I love playing against a true five, back to the basket player, and BG brings that,” said Fowles. “She brings the intensity, she’s got length, she’s got moves, so I’m always looking forward to games like this.”

Head coach Cheryl Reeve gives Fowles a ton of credit for the victory.

“Sylvia Fowles is just really hard to play against,” she said. “Playing against each other is very difficult. We were fortunate that Syl was able to get off a few more shots, because they both defend each other really well.”

Fowles and the Lynx take a lot of pride in their defense and after giving up an uncharacteristic 84 points to the Seattle Storm they certainly felt the pressure to reassert their dominance.

“We do know that our defense gets us going, and that’s always been for the Lynx. Defense gets us going. So, we just wanted to come out and redeem ourselves from that Seattle game,” said Fowles.

The Lynx are now 4-1. That’s a great place to be after five games and the best part is they still have a lot of room to grow.

“We still got some things to work on and I think that comes with time,” said Fowles. “I think every game we get better; we see these young women out there trying, and that’s all we can ask for is to be patient.”