Napheesa Collier scored 30 points on 11-for-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx pulled away for a 100-93 win over the New York Liberty on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Kayla McBride added 24 points for Minnesota (23-5), which beat the Liberty in the teams’ first matchup since they squared off in the 2024 WNBA Finals. Alanna Smith scored 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.
Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points on 11-for-20 shooting to lead New York (17-9). Isabelle Harrison had 15 points off the bench, and Natasha Cloud finished with 12 points to go along with a team-high seven assists.
Minnesota shot 49.3 percent (36 of 73) from the field and 48.4 percent (15 of 31) from beyond the 3-point line. New York shot 48.6 percent (35 of 72) overall and 35.7 percent (10 of 28) from long range.
The Liberty trailed 68-62 at the end of the third quarter.
New York trailed by 13 points with 1:47 remaining in the session but closed the quarter on a 7-0 lead thanks to a driving layup by Harrison, a 3-pointer by Ionescu and a basket by Leonie Fiebich to trim the deficit to six.
The score was even at 24-all at the end of the first quarter, but the Lynx led 51-42 at the half.
Ionescu made a pull-up jump shot to put New York on top 22-15 with 3:44 remaining in the first quarter, but the Lynx finished the first quarter on a 7-2 run to even the score. Jessica Shepard made a basket and a driving layup, and McBride finished the outburst with a 3-pointer.
In the second quarter, the Lynx outscored the Liberty 27-18 to establish a nine-point advantage at the break. Minnesota finished the first half on a 9-2 run. Collier scored the final seven points on back-to-back layups and a 3-pointer.
–Field Level Media
