UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — After struggling in the last game offensively, Napheesa Collier wasn’t going to let it happen again.
The Lynx’s star scored 26 points and Minnesota beat the Connecticut Sun 90-81 on Friday night to take a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five semifinal matchup.
“Everyone has an off night and I try to contribute in other ways to help the team,” said Collier, who had only nine points on 3-of-14 shooting in Game 2.
She has put in the work all season on both ends of the court and the league’s runner-up for MVP had the confidence to know the poor shooting game was a one-off.
With Connecticut making a run late, Collier also made three straight plays to change the momentum and seal the win.
Minnesota led 81-73 with 3:03 left when she scored, then got a deflection on the other end and capped it off by hitting Alanna Smith for a 3-pointer to make it a 13-point game.
“It’s crunch time, I knew I had to be aggressive especially in one-on-one coverage,” Collier said. “Then, you know, just being the same on the other side, we really had to be aggressive. They were playing with desperation at the end.”
Game 4 is Sunday in Connecticut with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended in the fourth of Minnesota’s championships during a seven-year stretch. Game 5 would be in Minnesota on Tuesday night if necessary.
Collier had 16 in the first half on Friday night and was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven after one quarter and 48-36 at the half thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the opening 20 minutes.
The Sun tried to rally, cutting the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that’s as close as they got.
“Tough one for us. They do what they wanted to do on the offensive end of the floor,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We didn’t do a good enough job getting us prepared to play today. We got outplayed, outexecuted and outcoached.”
Brionna Jones, who had just eight points combined in the first two games, led Connecticut with 21.
DeWanna Bonner scored 16 for the Sun to move into second place on the WNBA career postseason scoring list in the third quarter. She passed Candace Parker, who had 1,149 during her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159 points, moving ahead of Parker by hitting a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi is the leader with 1,455.
All five of the Sun starters scored in double figures, but they got little contribution from the bench. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.
The first two games featured a chippiness between the teams, who pride themselves on playing physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams in the regular season — the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6.
There had been hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn’t much of that at all in Game 3.
“I just thought it was across the board a slugfest,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of the first two games. “And I’m quite sure they felt the same.”
There’s also been a lot of trash talk on the court especially between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The pair were teammates in Chicago last year and say that it’s just on-court fun and there’s no bad blood between them.
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