After struggling offensively in the last match, Napheesa Collier didn’t want to let it happen again.
The Lynx star scored 26 points and Minnesota defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-81 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal.
“Everyone is having a bad night and I’m trying to contribute in other ways to help the team,” said Collier, who had just nine points on 3-of-14 shooting in Game 2.
She worked hard all season on both ends of the court and the league runner-up for MVP had the confidence of knowing the poor shooting was a one-off.
With Connecticut running late, Collier also made three straight plays to change the momentum and seal the victory.
Minnesota led 81-73 with 3:03 left when she scored, then got a deflection at the other end and capped it off by hitting Alanna Smith for a three-pointer to make it a 13-point game.
“It’s time for criticism, I knew I had to be aggressive, especially in one-on-one coverage,” Collier said. “Being the same on the other side, we had to be really aggressive. They played desperately 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 over a seven-year span. Game 5 would take place Tuesday night in Minnesota 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 halftime thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the first 20 minutes.
The Sun tried to recover and cut 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.
“A difficult one for us. They are doing what they wanted to do on the offensive end of the floor,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We didn’t prepare well enough to play today. We were outplayed, executed and outcoached.”
Brionna Jones, who had just eight points in the first two games combined, led Connecticut with 21.
DeWanna Bonner scored 16 for the Sun and moved 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 Sun starters scored in double figures, but received little input from the bench. The Sun reserves were defeated 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.
In the first two games there was chippiness between the teams, who prided themselves on playing physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams in the regular season: the Sun averaged 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6.
There had been hard fouls on both sides in the two Minnesota games. There wasn’t much of that at all in Game 3.
“I just thought it was a slugfest across the board,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of the first two games. “And I’m pretty sure they felt the same way.”
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 they are just having fun on the field and there is no bad blood between them.