Lynx guard Moriah Jefferson registers triple-double in final seconds against former team paying 73% of her salary

Minnesota Lynx guard Moriah Jefferson and her teammates were on a mission to history in the final minutes of a blowout win over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night.

With less than five seconds left and on the final possession of the game, they reached it. Jefferson registered her first triple-double, and the first for the Lynx franchise, with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Minutes earlier, Ariel Powers had told the veteran she was three rebounds away from the mark and they worked to help her on the boards. After she hustled for the final one, teammates stormed the beaming player at halfcourt. It was the 15th in the league's 25-plus year history and somewhat incredibly the first for a UConn player in the WNBA. It also came with a little extra spice for Jefferson.

The Wings waived her days into the season and are paying most of her 2022 protected veteran salary. The Wings owe Jefferson $180,200 this season while the Lynx signed her at $67,141, per Her Hoop Stats. As it stands, the Wings are paying 72.9% of her salary though Her Hoop Stats writer Richard Cohen cautioned the Wings' number will likely go down because players can't earn more than 10% over the max salary.

As for the game itself, the Lynx pulled so far ahead the Wings' Twitter account began playing tic-tac-toe with fans. Dallas, clutching the sixth playoff spot near the halfway point, dropped below .500 to 9-10.

Minnesota (5-14) led by as many as 32 points and never trailed, closing with a 92-64 win. It was the team's third win in four games as it makes a push from the bottom of the standings to a top-eight spot for the playoffs.

Aerial Powers had 20 points (7-of-11), Damiris Dantas scored 11 and Sylvia Fowles had 10 points shooting 5-of-7 in 15 minutes. Arike Ogunbowale scored a team-high 16 points for Dallas and Veronica Burton had 11 as the only other double-digit scorer.

Jefferson latest on WNBA triple-double train

The list of triple-doubles in the WNBA is still short, but quickly growing. Jefferson's was the fourth of the 2022 season, extending the WNBA's record that previously stood at two. Three of those came in June. Most teams are at the halfway point.

The full list of players, with the number of times in parenthesis: Sheryl Swoopes (2), Margo Dydek, Lisa Leslie, Deanna Nolan, Temeka Johnson, Candace Parker (3), Courtney Vandersloot (2), Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu (2), and Jefferson.

She joins Swoopes as the only two players to do it with two steals and only one turnover, per Across the Timeline. Dydek and Leslie grabbed each of theirs in the early 2000s with blocks.

Jefferson, 28, is the second-shortest (5-foot-6) to do it behind Johnson (5-foot-3), per ESPN. She won four national titles at UConn and came out as the No. 2 overall pick in 2016 behind Breanna Stewart. But for all the talent the Huskies have produced as a women's basketball powerhouse, none of the triple-doubles in league history are by them. Until Jefferson.

She's also the first Lynx player in a long lineage of greats who won the franchise four titles in seven years.

Her success with Minnesota rivals only that she experienced as a rookie with San Antonio in '16. She's averaging 13.4 points, 5.7 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 30 minutes per game. All are career highs except for points (off by one-half a point).