Marina Mabrey scored 20 points, and Alyssa Thomas contributed 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists as the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 73-70 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their semifinals series.
DiJonai Carrington added 13 points, while DeWanna Bonner had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Sun.
Napheesa Collier, who had an impressive average of 40 points in the first round of the playoffs, led the Lynx with 19 points and nine rebounds. Bridget Carleton scored 17 points, and Kayla McBride added 12.
Game 2 of the best-of-5 series will take place on Tuesday in Minneapolis.
“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,” Carleton said.
In their first-round sweep of Phoenix, the Lynx shot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range, scoring over 100 points in both games.
However, the game against the Sun was different. The Sun had the best defense in the league this season, holding Minnesota to just 41.5% shooting and making only 5 of 20 three-point attempts. In the fourth quarter, the Lynx struggled, shooting 4 for 18 from the field and scoring only 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 started the fourth quarter with her sixth three-pointer of the night, and Carrington scored on a putback, tying the game at 62 with seven minutes left. Bonner then hit a corner three and added a layup after blocking a shot from Collier, giving the Sun a three-point lead.
