Rookie Olivia Miles scored a career-high 28 points and Courtney Williams had nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter in the Minnesota Lynx’s 87-84 win over the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night at Minneapolis.
The Lynx (8-2) won their sixth consecutive game and started 2-0 in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Valkyries (6-4, 1-1 in Commissioner’s Cup standings) were led by Cecilia Zandalasini, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter.
After Zandalasini’s 3-pointer put Golden State ahead 75-70 with 7:07 left, the Valkyries went more than four minutes without scoring.
Minnesota outscored Golden State 11-0 in that stretch that included Williams scoring six points and Miles drilling a 3-pointer.
Natasha Howard ended the run with two free throws that put the Lynx ahead 81-75 with 3:08 left.
Zandalasini halted Golden State’s 0-of-5 stretch from the field with a 3-pointer that cut the hosts’ lead to 81-78 with 2:49 remaining.
Two free throws by Zandalasini with 1:04 left enabled Golden State to close the gap to 84-82 with 1:04 left.
Williams made a jumper, but Hayes answered with a layup with 34 seconds left and the Lynx led 86-84.
Williams converted one of two free throw attempts with six seconds left.
The Valkyries called a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining after getting the ball on a jump ball following an inadvertent whistle.
Zandalasini missed a 3-pointer at the top of the key at the buzzer.
There were nine lead changes and six ties and neither team led by more than seven points.
Golden State led 44-42 at halftime despite Miles’ 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
Janelle Salaun made consecutive 3-point attempts to give Golden State a 66-59 lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter but was whistled for a technical foul for taunting following her second shot.
After the Lynx’s Kayla McBride made the technical foul free throw, she nailed a 3-pointer.
Minnesota’s Anastasiia Olairi Kosu converted a layup with 1.6 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 66-65.
–Field Level Media
