Marina Mabrey scored 20 points and Alyssa Thomas added 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the Connecticut Sun defeated the Minnesota Lynx 73-70 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their semifinals series.
DiJonai Carrington had 13 points and DeWanna Bonner had 10 points and 11 boards for the Sun.
Former UConn great Napheesa Collier, who averaged 40 points in the first round of the playoffs, led Minnesota with 19 points and nine rebounds. Bridget Carleton scored 17 and Kayla McBride added 12.
Game 2 of the best-of-5 series will be played Tuesday in Minneapolis.
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“It’s a long series for a reason. We have all the faith in the world that we’ll perform better on Tuesday night and hopefully come out with a win,” said Carleton.
In their first-round sweep of Phoenix, the Lynx shot 50% from the floor and 40% from the arc, topping 100 points in both games.
It was a different story against the Sun, who had the stingiest defense in the league this season.
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Minnesota shot just 41.5% from the field and made 5 of 20 3-point attempts. In the fourth quarter, the Lynx shot 4 for 18 from the field and scored just eight points.
“That’s just what our group does. This is a team and a franchise ... that has hung our hats on defense,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “We had to be disruptive. We had to try to force them into uncomfortable shots.”
Mabrey opened the fourth with her sixth 3-pointer of the night, and Carrington scored on a putback to tie the score 62-all with seven minutes to play. Bonner hit a corner 3 and added a transition layup after blocking a Collier shot as the Sun crept ahead by three.
After the Lynx were held without a basket for more than three minutes, Collier’s driving layup cut the Sun's lead to 71-70 with 33.9 seconds to go.
However, Thomas hit a 15-foot jumper with 11.7 seconds left and after a disjointed final possession, Collier's desperation 3-pointer came up short.
“We had a couple things going, not necessarily for (Collier),” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “The options that we were looking for weren’t available, so at that point we were just trying to find a 3.”
The Sun won two of their three games against the Lynx this season — one in overtime, the other by five points — while the Lynx won by two points on Sept. 17 when Carleton sank a long three to win it.
“All season long it’s been a physical series. Every game has come down to the wire in the fourth quarter and we expected nothing less,” Thomas said. “We’re two of the top defensive teams for a reason.”
The Lynx trailed by four entering the third quarter, when McBride hit a 3-pointer and a long jumper on back-to-back possessions to erase the deficit. Tied at 57 in the final minute of the quarter, Myisha Hines-Allen scored on a baseline drive, then after getting a stop on the other end, Williams drained a 3 to give Minnesota a 62-57 lead after three quarters.
Connecticut used a 9-0 run late in the first quarter to jump out to a 23-14 lead. Carrington sparked the rally by converting a turnover into a breakaway layup and hitting a corner 3 the next time down the court.
Minnesota clawed back in the second quarter, as Williams’ steal and fast-break assist to McBride sparked a 15-0 spurt that gave the Lynx a 35-29 lead. Carleton hit a pair of 3s and Alanna Smith converted a three-point play over that four-minute stretch, which Mabrey snapped with a 3 from the wing.
Mabrey's bucket triggered a 13-2 run that ended with another Mabrey 3 as the Sun took a 42-38 lead into the half.
