Plenty of players would have been unhappy about landing on the roster of a basketball team that had made the playoffs only two times in its 11-year history. Rebekkah Brunson prefers to look forward rather than backward, so when she came to the Lynx after her original WNBA team folded in 2009, her excitement at joining such a talented young group of players completely overshadowed the franchise's woeful background.

That attitude also left her keen to return to Minnesota this spring. Brunson racked up a multitude of achievements in her first summer with the Lynx, grabbing a franchise-record 310 rebounds and becoming the eighth player in WNBA history to average double figures in points and rebounds over a full season. The one thing she didn't do? Win.

When coach Cheryl Reeve said goodbye to Brunson last fall, she instantly knew the 6-3 forward would do everything within her power to change that in her second season. Brunson is smiling a lot these days, and it isn't because she was named Western Conference player of the week on Monday or because she's started the season with double-doubles in all four games. Her delight is in the Lynx's 3-1 record, a glimmer of all she hoped for when she first stepped into Target Center.

"My mental approach was a little different this year,'' said Brunson, who leads the Lynx in points (14.8 per game), rebounds (14) and minutes (31) per game as well as field-goal percentage (.641) this season. "I knew this could be a very special year for the Lynx.

"When I came here, I could see this team had a great amount of potential, a great future. Last year, a lot of us left with a bitter taste in our mouths because we thought we would go farther than we did. We felt like we needed to be the team we were capable of being. Now we know what we're capable of, but we have to stay focused.''

Reeve saw that frustration after a 2010 season in which the Lynx, bedeviled by injuries and inconsistency, finished 13-21 and out of the playoffs. Brunson had won a WNBA title with Sacramento in 2005. When the Monarchs dissolved in 2009, Brunson came to the Lynx via the dispersal draft, bearing a reputation as a remarkably conscientious and dedicated player as well as a fierce rebounder.

In her eighth WNBA season, Brunson, 29, has been all that and more. Her proficiency on the boards has triggered the Lynx's fast-break offense. The Lynx have outscored their opponents 53-7 on fast breaks during their current three-game winning streak. Her steadfast defense has helped the Lynx improve significantly in that area, and she's made the most of her scoring opportunities, highlighted by her team-high 22 points in Thursday's victory over defending league champion Seattle.

"I felt very confident in the offseason that Brunson, in particular, would be ready to go,'' Reeve said. "She's always played hard. But she's on a mission, along with a couple of other [players], to make the Minnesota Lynx a winner. She came back with a great deal of focus to make sure that happened.''

The art of the rebound

Brunson is the WNBA's leading rebounder this season, a year after she finished second in the league with a career-high 10.3 per game. Like the Timberwolves' Kevin Love — whom she jokingly calls her twin — Brunson embraces that gritty task, finding immense satisfaction in honing the strength, tenacity and nose for the ball that have made her a master of the craft.

Reeve said Brunson brings that relentlessness to every game and every practice. As she strives to maximize her own talents, her teammates feel inspired to do the same, an influence that Reeve said has been instrumental in the Lynx's strong start. The victory over Seattle — which ended the Storm's home winning streak at 18 regular-season games — pushed the Lynx to the No. 1 spot in the WNBA's power rankings for only the second time since 2005.

In 34 games with the Lynx, Brunson has 16 double-doubles, one shy of the franchise record. Last year, she set the team's single-season record with 12. While that's all well and good, Brunson said she won't be content until the numbers in the victory column measure up to the high expectations she holds for her team.

"This city needs a winner,'' Brunson said. "We're very capable of doing it. This team has the potential to do great things. I'm very happy to be part of it.''

Rachel Blount • rblount@startribune.com