The Minnesota Lynx showed why they are the class of the league WNBA, rolling to a 101-72 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday at Minneapolis in the opener of a best-of-three playoff series.
MVP candidate Napheesa Collier led the top-seeded Lynx with 20 points and six rebounds. Kayla McBride added 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and Natisha Hiedeman scored 18 points with four assists off the bench for last season’s WNBA runner-up.
Cecilia Zandalasini and Veronica Burton each scored 14 points for the expansion Valkyries, who were playing in their first ever playoff game. Janelle Salaun had 13 points and Temi Fagbenle added 12.
Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase earned a technical foul arguing with officials with 7:53 remaining as frustration boiled while the Valkyries trailed 85-58.
Leading 94-61 with 4:18 remaining, the Lynx pulled their starters and cruised to the victory after recovering in style from a slow start to the game.
Minnesota trailed 17-7 with 4:15 remaining in the first quarter before a 24-14 run tied the game 31-all with 5:54 remaining before halftime. In the second quarter, the Minnesota defense held the Golden State Valkyries to 12 points on 29.4-percent shooting and built a 47-40 lead at halftime.
After missing four games with a left shoulder injury, Minnesota’s DiJonai Carrington made her return in the third quarter and scored six points in 11 minutes of her first playoff game with Minnesota after a midseason trade from the Dallas Wings.
Salaun led the Valkyries with eight points in the first quarter as Golden State led 28-20 after the opening 10 minutes. After shooting a season-low 11.1 percent from 3-point range in the final game of the regular season, Golden State was 9 of 31 (29.0 percent) from deep, while the Lynx were 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from distance.
–Field Level Media
