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It was a physical battle between Connecticut and Minnesota in the second game of their semifinal series, but the victory came down to the little things. The Lynx evened the series at 1-1 with a 77-70 victory on Tuesday night.
Minnesota won the defensive battle, got better bench production and managed to find its footing as the Sun limited Napheesa Collier.
“It was a collective effort,” coach Cheryl Reeve said. “That’s what we do and that’s what we saw tonight.”
Defense
The game started ugly, with only 22 collective points scored in the first quarter. And although 125 points were scored in the remaining three quarters, it wasn’t much prettier. Minnesota and Connecticut are two of the best defensive teams in the league, but the Lynx had the advantage Tuesday. They held Connecticut to 36.4% shooting and 25% from beyond the arc. That was a major improvement from Game 1, when the Sun hit 40.9% of their 3-point attempts to secure a 73-70 victory.
The game was also choppy from the beginning. The physicality lent itself to an emotional affair in which neither team feared contact or trash talk. That’s something both teams said they expected at this point in the season.
“We had to match their energy,” said the Lynx’s Courtney Williams. “In the first game they were chirping and chatting, so we had to give it back to them. “That’s just playoff basketball.”
Balance
Collier did a lot of the heavy lifting for Minnesota in the first round, scoring 38 points in Game 1 and 42 points in Game 2. He also led the Lynx in scoring in the first game against Connecticut with 19 points. But in the second game of the semifinals, the Sun limited Collier’s touches and he didn’t even attempt a shot in the second quarter. He scored just nine points, a season-low, on 14 shots.
“Phee did everything else. But for some reason, he had problems with some of the vaccines he received today,” Reeve said. “It’s a difficult game. It’s physically hard. “She will feel more and more comfortable.”
Collier managed to impact the game in other ways, with 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks, and the rest of the Lynx resumed their scoring efforts.
Williams led with 17 points and Alanna Smith added 15. Smith, who struggled shooting in Game 1, going 0 for 4 from long range, bounced back Tuesday. She was 6 of 8 on shots and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Kayla McBride added 11 points and Bridget Carleton scored 9. All five Lynx starters made at least one 3-pointer.
Bank
The Lynx won the battle for bench points, outscoring the Sun 16-4. But it wasn’t all about scoring, as Minnesota’s second unit also provided energy and defensive intensity.
Myisha Hines-Allen scored 7 points off the bench, but more importantly, at 6-foot-1 with a strong frame, she was able to match Connecticut’s toughness inside.
“She’s a physical defender, but she’s also a great player,” Smith said of Hines-Allen. “She is a great passer, she rebounds and makes very good screens. She does the little things well. “You can’t sleep on our bench and she is one of the main reasons.”
Cecilia Zandalasini and Natisha Hiedeman also played key minutes off the bench. Zandalasini finished with 5 points, including a three-pointer that helped spark the Lynx in the first half, and Hiedeman added four points and two assists.
“We knew our bench was going to be important,” Reeve said. “A team whose bench appears and contributes is a great advantage. And each of the three that played tonight contributed in various ways.”
