Napheesa Collier scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half and the Minnesota Lynx led most of the way in a 94-70 victory over the host Connecticut Sun on Saturday night in Uncasville, Conn.
The Lynx (31-8) clinched homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason and set a team record for wins in a season. Minnesota avoided consecutive losses for the second time this season and led for the final three quarters after blowing a 21-point lead at home to the Seattle Storm on Thursday.
Alanna Smith led the Lynx with 18 points while reserve DiJonal Carrington also finished with 18. Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams contributed 15 apiece as the backcourt duo, and along with Smith combined on 12 of Minnesota’s 15 3-pointers.
Playing in her third game since recovering from an ankle injury, Collier made 7 of 13 shots and Minnesota shot 51.5 percent. Collier also finished with nine rebounds and handed out three assists in 27 minutes.
Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey paced the Sun (10-29) with 14 apiece. Aaliyah Edawards added 11 but rookie Leila Lacan was held to six points on 3-of-10 from the field as Connecticut shot 36.2 percent after winning five of its previous seven games.
Smith and McBride combined for 14 points as Minnesota made five 3-pointers and held a 21-19 lead through the opening quarter after Natisha Hiedeman’s eight-footer snapped a tie.
Minnesota used an 11-2 surge to get a 34-23 lead on a basket by Williams with 5:40 left in the second and opened a 42-29 lead by halftime.
Minnesota continued to dominate and took its first 20-point lead when Collier hit a cutting layup to go up 51-31 with 6:57 left. Minnesota let the lead slip to 61-50 after Edwards hit a layup with 1:25 left and held a 66-54 lead into the fourth.
After a hoop by Aneesah Morrow got the Sun within 75-63 with 5:56 remaining, the Lynx finished it off with a 19-7 spurt. Collier’s layup extended the lead to 82-64 with 3:49 left and she sank another hoop nearly a minute later for an 87-64 edge.
–Field Level Media
