Minnesota Lynx Secure Key Victory Behind Miles and Collier
Napheesa Collier steadied the Minnesota Lynx. Olivia Miles lit the fuse.
Collier poured in 23 points, Miles added 21 and rewrote the record book, and the Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 101-89 on Sunday to move to the brink of locking up the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs.
Minnesota, now 32-10, is one win — or one Golden State loss — away from home-court advantage throughout the postseason. They’ll finish the regular season with a home-and-home against Indiana, knowing the road to the title is almost ready to run through Minneapolis.
Miles passes Clark, Lynx snap skid
The afternoon belonged to Miles as much as to the scoreboard.
The rookie guard, a driving force in Minnesota’s rise this season, broke Caitlin Clark’s WNBA rookie record for points in a season. Miles reached 770 points with a free throw at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter, nudging past Clark’s 769-point mark set earlier this year with Indiana.
Her milestone came in the middle of the kind of start coaches dream about and slumping teams rarely find. The Lynx, coming off three straight losses, came out snarling. Collier scored the first four points of the game, and Minnesota ripped off an 11-2 run in the opening 3:30.
Courtney Williams, back on familiar ground after five seasons with the Sun, hit early shots and piled up five points in that first burst. By the end of the opening quarter, Minnesota led 27-12, with Collier already on 10 points and the Sun on the back foot.
The pressure didn’t ease in the second. Collier sliced through the lane for a layup that stretched the lead to 45-26 with 3:44 left in the half, the kind of basket that usually breaks a team’s resistance.
Connecticut refused to fold.
The Sun answered with a 15-4 surge, finally finding rhythm from deep and cutting the deficit to eight. Just as the building began to buzz, Collier slammed the door again, completing a three-point play with 25.2 seconds left in the half to restore a double-digit cushion.
Sun live by the three, but can’t close the gap
If the scoreboard suggested control, the three-point line told a different story.
Connecticut’s outside shooting kept the game alive long after Minnesota had threatened to turn it into a rout. The Sun hit 12 of their first 19 attempts from beyond the arc and, despite trailing most of the way, carved the deficit down to just seven early in the fourth quarter.
They finished a blistering 15-for-28 from three. It still wasn’t enough.
Minnesota’s balance, with Collier anchoring and Miles attacking, repeatedly answered those punches. Every time Connecticut’s shooters dragged the margin into uncomfortable territory, the Lynx found a response inside, at the line, or in transition.
For the Sun, it was a fifth straight defeat, dropping them to 10-32 in a season riddled with injuries. The bad luck continued when Saniya Rivers went down in the first quarter and did not return.
A farewell backdrop and a family connection
All of it played out against a poignant backdrop in Connecticut’s second-to-last home game before the franchise relocates to Houston next season.
Before tipoff, the organization honored former coach Mike Thibault, the man who guided the Sun from their inception in 2003 through 2012 and helped establish the franchise’s identity in the league. The night carried a sense of full circle.
On the opposing bench, his son, Eric Thibault, now serves as an assistant coach with Minnesota. So does Lindsay Whalen, who reached the WNBA Finals in 2004 under Mike Thibault in a Sun jersey. Around them, familiar faces from the franchise’s history dotted the arena: Tina Charles, Bria Hartley, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nicki Collen and more, all part of the tapestry being saluted one last time.
The game didn’t give Connecticut the storybook ending it wanted. It did, however, underline how far the Lynx have come and how ready they look for what’s next.
Minnesota walks out of Connecticut with its skid snapped, its rookie star in the record books, and the top seed within touching distance.
Up next
- Lynx: Visit Indiana on Tuesday.
- Sun: Visit Mystics on Tuesday.
