Brittney Griner scored 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Connecticut Sun held on for a 90-89 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Monday night in Minneapolis.
Kennedy Burke added 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting for Connecticut (5-16), which won on the road for only the second time in 10 tries. Leila Lacan scored 13 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa tallied 10 points and eight boards.
Kayla McBride scored 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead Minnesota (15-6), which lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Courtney Williams finished with 23 points and nine rebounds and Natasha Howard scored 18.
Minnesota played without rookie point guard Olivia Miles, ruled out due to a right calf strain after starting the team’s first 20 games. The late injury report update was a surprise for fans hoping to watch Miles, who practiced Sunday and took part in Monday’s shootaround.
Connecticut increased its lead to 84-79 with 1:35 left before Minnesota mounted a late rally. Griner made a layup for the five-point advantage.
McBride answered quickly on the other end as she converted a three-point play with a jump shot and a free throw. That cut the Lynx’s deficit to 84-82 with 1:30 to go.
After Diamond Miller missed a layup, Howard made a pair of free throws to even the score at 84-all with 54.1 seconds to play.
The Sun held strong as they reeled off the next five points. Burke made a 3-pointer to give Connecticut an 87-84 lead and Griner added a layup to make it 89-84 with 18.2 seconds to go.
The Lynx’s comeback bid ran out of time. Howard hit a basket to trim the deficit to 89-86 with six seconds left, but Miller sank one of two free throws on the other end for a 90-86 lead with 5.3 seconds left.
Williams hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game before time ran out.
Lynx forward Dorka Juhasz made her season debut after missing the first 20 games because of a right foot injury and scored three points off the bench.
-Field Level Media
