The Minnesota Lynx avenged one loss on their four-game, six-day road trip and will try to exact payback for the other when they face the Phoenix Mercury in their return home Wednesday afternoon.
The matchup is between the top two teams in the WNBA standings.
The Lynx closed the trip with a 91-78 victory at the Chicago Sky on Monday after they lost in Chicago three days earlier. Now comes a chance against the Mercury after they lost at Phoenix 79-71 last Wednesday.
The Lynx (19-4) handed the Mercury (15-6) their worst loss of the season, 88-65, in their last meeting in Minneapolis on June 3.
The Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas had a career-high 29 points in last Wednesday’s game and enters the rematch off a 78-77 victory at the Golden State Valkyries on Monday when Thomas made one of two free throws with one second remaining.
“You need games like this,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts, whose team has won three in a row and 9 of 11 “We haven’t been in a lot of tough games on the road.”
Minnesota has won two of the first three games against Phoenix, with the final game of the season series set for Wednesday. It is also the final night of league action before the All-Star break.
The Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner had season high 22 points and 11 rebounds off the bench against the Valkyries on Monday, her second game since returning to the Mercury after she was waived by the Indiana Fever.
“She is getting her legs back under her,” Tibbetts said. “A veteran presence that has seen anything. She’s won championships. This group needed that piece.”
The Lynx received 29 points from Napheesa Collier, 18 from Courtney Williams and 17 from Kayla McBride against the Sky on Monday. They limited Chicago to 32 points in the second half and had 14 steals in the game, leading to 24 points off turnovers.
“The game physically got hard,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said, “and we were hoping we could wear them down, and I think that happened a little bit.”
Williams added a team-high eight rebounds and seven assists.
“That’s a testament to ‘Phee,'” Williams said of her rebounds. “The reason why I have eight is because she is doing the big dog work and I’m just swooping in and going to get it.”
The Mercury, who average a league-high 10.1 made baskets from 3-point range per game, went 1 of 16 in the last week against the Lynx, and are 9 of 72 in the season series.
“Our identity is our defense,” Williams said. “We know when we lean into our defense and we bring energy on defense, our offense follows.”
–Field Level Media
