Napheesa Collier finished with 30 points and a career-high eight steals, and Courtney Williams added 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx overcame a slow start to continue their dominance of the Los Angeles Sparks, winning 81-76 on Friday night at Target Center.

The Lynx (10-3) have now won 12 of the past 13 meetings between the two teams.

It didn’t come easy. Minnesota led 77-67 with 3:05 to play before Los Angeles cut the Lynx lead to just three on a jumper by Rickea Jackson with 10 seconds remaining. But Collier hit a pair of free throws and Minnesota held on, winning its third-straight game and its sixth in the past seven.

But things did not start smoothly for Minnesota, which started the game 3 of 9 from the field as Los Angeles (4-9) embarked on an 11-2 run to take an early 14-7 lead. The Sparks expanded that margin to 25-14 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to six points each from Dearica Hamby and Jackson.

Minnesota finished the first quarter 6 of 15 (40%) from the field. Los Angeles was just 7 of 16 (43.8%), but was 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. The Lynx went to the line just once.

The second quarter did not start much better as the Lynx fell behind by as much as 12. But Collier caught fire late, scoring nine of her team’s 11 points on an 11-2 run that cut the gap to three before a layup by Hamby gave the Sparks a 44-39 halftime lead.

Collier finished the first half with 17 points to lead all scorers and added six steals, but her team — which entered play leading the WNBA in 3-point shooting — was just 3 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Minnesota, though, continued to ride the momentum coming out of the half — outscoring the Sparks 18-4 — including a pair of 3-pointers by Bridget Carleton and six points from Alanna Smith over the bulk of the third to lead by as much as seven.

Los Angeles scored six of the quarter’s final eight points, cutting the Lynx lead to 59-56 entering the fourth.

Smith finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota. Carleton added 11 points to the winning cause.

The Lynx finished the night 15 of 18 at the free-throw line, matching the Sparks exactly.