The Lynx forced a winner-take-all Game 3, which
they will host on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Both McBride and Collier established playoff career highs in
points, and no other Lynx player scored more than six. The Lynx
shot 33-for-69 as a team (47.8 percent), with McBride making 10
of 18 shots -- 6 of 11 from 3-point range -- and Collier canning
12 of 24 overall.
The Lynx went on a 14-1 run to take a 65-49 lead with 3:01 left
in the third. But the Sun scored the final 11 points of the
quarter and cut it to 65-63 early in the fourth.
Bridget Carleton drained a corner 3 to end the Lynx's scoring
drought of more than five minutes.
The Sun pulled back within three points four times, twice on
DeWanna Bonner's long treys at 73-70 and 76-73. But Minnesota
put the game away when Collier followed her own miss, McBride
made a driving layup and Rachel Banham hit a dagger from the
elbow.
Alyssa Thomas recorded 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists
to power the Sun. Bonner made 6 of 10 3-pointers to finish with
24 points.
Bonner knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Sun ahead
14-13 with 4:16 left in the first quarter, but the Lynx answered
with seven straight points and carried a 24-21 lead into the
second quarter. Collier had 10 points in the first period alone,
on 5-of-8 shooting.
The Lynx took their largest lead of the half at 29-21 on
McBride's 3-pointer early in the second quarter, but Bonner
answered with another one of her own 17 seconds later and
Connecticut kept it within five the rest of the quarter, the
lead changing hands four times.
McBride drilled a 3 with 1:07 left and Thomas was whistled for a
foul under the basket, allowing Diamond Miller to make it a
four-point play. Bonner's fourth 3 cut the margin to 41-39, but
McBride made another triple in the final few seconds for a 44-39
Minnesota lead at halftime.
--Field Level Media
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