After taking a 1-0 lead on the road, the Connecticut Sun now face elimination from the WNBA postseason at home when they host the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday in a pivotal Game 4 of a five-game semifinal series in Uncasville, Conn.
The Sun trail the Lynx 2-1 in the series after Minnesota claimed two straight victories. Most recently, the Lynx won 90-81 on Friday night in Connecticut behind 26 points and 11 rebounds from All-Star forward Napheesa Collier.
Connecticut had been able to contain Collier early in the series — holding her to a combined 28 points on 10-of-30 shooting in the first two games — but the Defensive Player of the Year bounced back in a big way on offense in Game 3. Collier shot 11 of 19 from the floor and dished out three assists. Collier had eight points in the fourth quarter to help the Lynx hold on for the win.
“There was nobody more frustrated than Phee over the past couple games,” said Cheryl Reeve, the Lynx head coach who also coached Collier on gold medal-winning Team USA at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Combined with her performances in a first-round sweep of the Phoenix Mercury, Collier became the first player in Lynx history to have multiple games of at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in the postseason, according to ESPN.
“I think just staying aggressive,” Collier said Friday of her bounce-back offensive output. “Everybody has off-nights, of course, but we won the game. That’s all that matters. But I knew I needed to come in today being aggressive and keep that for the next game.”
The Sun lost despite having all five starters score in double figures, led by Brionna Jones’ 21 points. It was the first time since Sept. 17 that Jones had scored in double figures.
For Connecticut, the game may have gone differently had Marina Mabrey (14 points) shot a little bit better than 6 of 20 from the floor and 1 of 11 from 3-point range. It was Mabrey’s worst shooting performance in 11 games. The last time she made less than 10 percent of her 3-point attempts was a Sept. 3 loss to the Seattle Storm (0 for 5).
As a team, the Sun shot just 3 of 20 from 3-point range and missed five free throws in 23 attempts.
“A lot of us have been in this position before and have come out of it,” Sun forward Alyssa Thomas said. “If you want your season to continue, you want to make it to the finals, you’ve got to give it everything that you’ve got.”
–Field Level Media