Courtney Williams scored 16 points in the Minnesota Lynx’ Game 3 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-81 in Game 3 of the semifinals, moving them one win away from the WNBA Finals. The Lynx led 2-1 in the best-of-five series.
Connecticut cut Minnesota’s lead to 86-79 with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter, but never got any closer in a game the Lynx controlled throughout. Courtney Williams and Bridget Carleton made jump shots in the final moments to secure the victory.
After scoring nine points in Game 2, Napheesa Collier bounced back with 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota on Friday. She scored 16 points in the first half, making 7 of 10 shots, up from her average of 14 points in the first two games of the series.
Williams added 16 points and eight assists. Kayla McBride contributed with 13 points and five assists, and Carlton had 12 points and six rebounds.
The Sun’s DeWanna Bonner scored 16 points, passing Candace Parker for second place on the WNBA playoffs all-time scoring list. Bonner currently has 1,159 points to Parker’s 1,149 points. Only Bonner’s former Phoenix Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi (1,455) has scored more postseason points over her career.
Breonna Jones led the Sun with 21 points, four rebounds and five assists, followed by Marina Mabry with 14 points. Alyssa Thomas played all 40 minutes of the game and had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Dijonai Carrington added 13 points and five rebounds.
All five of the Sun’s starters scored in double digits, but the substitutes added only four points. In comparison, the Lynx got 16 points off the bench.
A missed 3-point shot hurt Connecticut. At one point, the Suns missed nine straight shots from behind the arc and were 3-of-20 from 3-point range overall. Mabry made 1 of 11 3-pointers.
This left Connecticut shooting 41% from the floor, with only Jones and Thomas shooting over 50%. Minnesota, on the other hand, shot 57.4% overall, which might best explain the final score. Collier made 11 of 19 shots and Williams made 7 of 10 shots.
Game 4 of the series is scheduled for Sunday, and the Lynx have a chance to get a shutout and advance to the WNBA Finals.
