MINNEAPOLIS — Seimone Augustus, her left knee sore and looking exhausted from an all-around effort, lifted the Minnesota Lynx to the brink of their first WNBA title.

She’s not ready to relax just yet. There’s still some work to do.

Augustus scored 36 points to lead Minnesota’s second-half surge, and the Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 101-95 in Game 2 of the league championship series on Wednesday night.

“The legacy isn’t complete until you’re holding the trophy,” Augustus said.

Jessica Adair added 13 points in 18 minutes in a reserve role for the Lynx, who took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup by overcoming 38 points by the Dream’s Angel McCoughtry, who broke her own record for a WNBA finals game set last year. Game 3 is set for Friday night in Atlanta.

McCoughtry had 24 points in the first half, but she shot just 2 for 13 after halftime and shook her head in disgust afterward at what the Dream complained was an unfair discrepancy — 33-23, Atlanta — in the foul calls by officials Sue Blauch, Lamont Simpson and Kurt Walker.

“Let us battle out. Let us scratch and claw to the end. It’s entertainment. That’s what people want to see,” McCoughtry said, a scowl on her face.

Coach Marynell Meadors was just as outspoken.

“I just really don’t understand a lot of the things being called,” she said.

The Dream led 58-50 after a dizzying first half by two of the WNBA’s three highest-scoring teams. But McCoughtry started to miss more after halftime, unlike in Game 1 when she had 19 of her 33 points in the third quarter, and the Dream — who finished 21 for 32 at the line — bricked a bunch of free throws that came back to hurt them later.