Minnesota Lynx Take Control of WNBA Postseason with Win Over Connecticut

Napheesa Collier steadied the ship, Olivia Miles lit the fuse, and the Minnesota Lynx took a decisive step toward owning the WNBA postseason.

Collier poured in 23 points, Miles added 21, and Minnesota rolled past the Connecticut Sun 101-89 on Sunday, snapping a three-game skid and moving to the brink of clinching the league’s top seed.

One more Lynx win, or a Golden State loss, and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs belongs to Minnesota. They’ll finish the regular season with a home-and-home against Indiana, knowing the road to the title is almost ready to run through their building.

Miles passes Clark, and a record falls

If this Lynx season has had a heartbeat, Miles has often been it.

The rookie guard didn’t just score 21. She rewrote the record book. With 9:31 left in the second quarter, a routine free throw became a landmark moment: her 770th point of the season, breaking the WNBA rookie scoring record previously held by Caitlin Clark. Clark finished her 2024 campaign with 769 points for Indiana.

No fanfare. No stoppage. Just a quiet nod to a historic season as the game surged on.

Lynx punch first — and hard

Minnesota arrived in Connecticut carrying the weight of three straight losses. They played like a team determined not to let it become four.

Collier scored the game’s first four points, and the Lynx blitzed the Sun 11-2 in the opening 3:30. Courtney Williams, back on familiar ground after starring in Connecticut for five seasons, joined the early surge with five quick points.

The tone was set. The crowd was restless. The scoreboard was ruthless.

By the end of the first quarter, Minnesota led 27-12. Collier had 10, the defense had smothered the Sun, and the top seed felt a step closer.

The pressure didn’t ease in the second. Collier pushed the lead to 45-26 on a layup with 3:44 left in the half, the Lynx threatening to turn the afternoon into a rout.

Connecticut refused to let it happen.

A 15-4 Sun run sliced the deficit to single digits, the building finally finding its voice. With the half winding down, the game teetered between blowout and battle.

Collier made sure it stayed under control. Her three-point play with 25.2 seconds left restored a double-digit cushion and sent Minnesota into the break back in command.

Sun live from deep, but can’t close the gap

Connecticut’s answer came from behind the arc.

The Sun, battered by injuries and mired in a losing streak, shot like a team with nothing to lose. They hit 12 of their first 19 three-point attempts and kept clawing at Minnesota’s lead. Every time the Lynx looked ready to pull away, another long-range shot dropped.

Early in the fourth quarter, the margin was down to seven. The game, for all of Minnesota’s control, was still alive.

But the math finally caught up. The Sun finished an impressive 15 for 28 from deep, yet never quite found the stops they needed. Minnesota kept scoring, kept getting to their spots, kept leaning on Collier and Miles to steady each possession.

For a team chasing the No. 1 seed, composure mattered as much as shot-making. The Lynx had both.

A night of history in Connecticut

The game unfolded against a backdrop heavy with meaning for the home franchise.

Before tipoff, the Sun honored former coach Mike Thibault, the architect of the franchise from its inception in 2003 through 2012. It was their second-to-last game in Connecticut before relocating to Houston next season, and the tribute carried the weight of an era closing.

The connections ran deeper. On the opposite bench, Mike’s son, Eric Thibault, now serves as an assistant coach with Minnesota. So does Lindsay Whalen, who played in the 2004 WNBA Finals under the elder Thibault.

Around the arena, the past gathered to watch the present. Former Sun standouts Tina Charles, Bria Hartley, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Nicki Collen were among those in attendance, a roll call of names that helped define the franchise’s identity.

The night was meant to celebrate what Connecticut basketball has been. The current Sun, though, are living a harsher reality.

Sun’s struggles deepen

Connecticut fell to 10-32 with the loss, their fifth straight defeat in a season ravaged by injuries and frustration.

The latest blow came early. Saniya Rivers exited in the first quarter with an injury and did not return, another key piece lost from an already depleted rotation.

They fought. They shot the lights out from three. They honored their past. But they couldn’t change their present.

What’s next

For Minnesota, the mission is clear.

The Lynx head to Indiana on Tuesday, one result away — theirs or Golden State’s — from locking up the top seed and the playoff path every contender wants.

Connecticut will travel to face the Mystics the same night, trying to stop the slide as the clock winds down on their time in Connecticut and a new chapter in Houston waits on the other side.