UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Napheesa Collier scored 26 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 90-81 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series Friday night.
Game 4 is Sunday in Connecticut with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended in the fourth of Minnesota’s championships during a seven-year stretch. Game 5 would be in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Collier, who averaged just 14 points in the first two games of the series, had 16 in the first half in Game 3. The runner-up for league MVP was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven after one quarter and 48-36 at the half thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the opening 20 minutes.
The Sun tried to rally, cutting the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that’s as close as they got.
DeWanna Bonner moved into second place on the WNBA career postseason scoring list in the third quarter. She passed Candace Parker, who had 1,149 during her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159, moving ahead of Parker by hitting a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Diana Taurasi is the leader with 1,455.
Brionna Jones, who had just eight points combined in the first two games, led Connecticut with 21. Bonner added 16. All five of the Sun starters scored in double figures, but they got little contribution from the bench. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.
The first two games featured a chippiness between the teams, who pride themselves on playing physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams in the regular season — the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6.
There had been hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn’t much of that at all in Game 3.