The Minnesota Lynx will attempt to keep their unbeaten start to the season going when they visit the Seattle Storm on Wednesday night.
Minnesota (9-0) and the New York Liberty (8-0) were the only remaining undefeated WNBA teams entering Tuesday’s slate of games. The Lynx and Liberty don’t meet until July 30, then will play each other four times in a three-week span.
Of course, Minnesota cannot look that far ahead as they travel to the Pacific Northwest.
WNBA MVP candidate Napheesa Collier finished with 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field and had 10 rebounds in Minnesota’s 81-65 victory at the Dallas Wings on Sunday.
She also had four assists, three steals, three blocked shots and nine pass deflections.
“I’m just glad people are understanding Phee’s greatness,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “There’s nothing else you can say about it at this point. At both ends of the floor. Just a complete player. Best player in the league.”
Seattle (5-4) kept the game close in its last meeting with Minnesota on May 27 before succumbing 82-77.
Gabby Williams led the Storm with 20 points and six assists in that game, during which Seattle trailed by just three points with 11 seconds left before Collier made two free throws to secure the victory.
More recently, Williams had 21 points — 18 in the first half — and Skylar Diggins scored the most points (26) of any Seattle player this season in the Storm’s 89-77 win at the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday.
Diggins made 8 of 18 shots from the field against Phoenix after scoring a combined 20 points on 8-of-22 shooting over the two previous games.
“I was just wanting to come out and be aggressive,” Diggins said. “I was just trying to stay in that mindset. I know I have the skill set to help my team and do what I need to do. It’s just having the mindset to be aggressive.”
Minnesota’s Kayla McBride has averaged 17.0 points and 4.0 assists per game in five games after not playing at the beginning of the season for personal reasons.
Wednesday’s game is part of the Commissioner’s Cup. Seattle is 2-1, while Minnesota is 3-0 in that competition.
–Field Level Media
