Natisha Hiedeman buried a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left to give the Minnesota Lynx a 74-71 victory over the host Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.
Hiedeman’s game winner allowed the Lynx (6-0) to remain unbeaten even though star Napheesa Collier (knee) sat out the contest.
Kayla McBride scored 20 points and Alanna Smith added 19 for Minnesota. Courtney Williams had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lynx.
Satou Sabally recorded 26 points, 11 rebounds and three steals for Phoenix (4-2), which was without the services of star Alyssa Thomas (left calf). Kalani Brown had 15 points and Sami Whitcomb added 13 points and six assists.
Williams drained a 3-pointer with 53.7 seconds left to knot the score at 71.
Phoenix had a chance to set up for the final shot, but Whitcomb’s poor pass was intercepted by McBride with 13.6 seconds left. Minnesota came up court and Williams saw Hiedeman was wide open and got her ball. Hiedeman swished the 3-pointer as part of a nine-point outing.
Whitcomb’s last-ditch 3-point attempt was well off the mark and Bridget Carleton collected the rebound for Minnesota.
The Lynx made 36.2 percent of their shots and were 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) from behind the arc.
Phoenix shot 39.4 percent from the field and was a poor 3 of 26 (11.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Lexi Held hit a 16-footer to give Phoenix a 65-60 lead with 7:10 left in the contest.
However, the Mercury failed to score over the next 3:51 as the Lynx moved ahead. Hiedeman drove for a basket, Jessica Shepard scored on a putback and Williams drained a midrange jumper to give Minnesota a 66-65 edge with 3:40 left.
Sabally ended the Mercury’s drought by hitting a layup with 3:19 to play. She added another layup 62 seconds later as Phoenix took a 69-66 lead.
The Mercury led by one at halftime and increased the gap to 49-43 on Sabally’s basket with 6:14 left in the third quarter.
A floater by Whitcomb made it 55-48 with 2:25 remaining in the period.
Smith scored Minnesota’s final seven points of the quarter, including a jumper with 20.1 seconds left to pull the Lynx within 58-53 entering the fourth.
Sabally scored 12 first-half points as Phoenix led 39-38 at the break. McBride had 17 in the half for the Lynx.
–Field Level Media
