This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The Connecticut Sun will aim to take a 2-0 series lead while the Minnesota Lynx hope to even up the score when the two sides face off again Tuesday night in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs in Minneapolis.
Connecticut took a 1-0 advantage in the five-game series on Sunday night, topping Minnesota 73-70 behind some timely buckets from Alyssa Thomas and sharp shooting by Marina Mabrey. Thomas flirted with a triple-double — piling up 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists — and made two shots for the Sun with less than a minute to play to seal the win. Meanwhile, Mabrey made six 3-pointers in a 20-point outing.
Mabrey joined the Sun in a midseason trade from the Chicago Sky. In 16 regular-season games for Connecticut, she averaged 14.9 points per game while shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point land. She’s also started the past two games for the Sun — after coming off the bench in her previous 14 games — which have both been playoff victories.
Mabrey leads the WNBA this postseason with 14 made 3-pointers after canning 98 in the regular season.
“She’s a competitor, and that’s what we are here,” Thomas said of Mabrey. “She wants to win, and she’s going to do whatever it takes for the team … We needed 3-point shooting desperately this season.”
In Game 2, Minnesota will have to figure out how to stifle Thomas and Mabrey while also getting back on track offensively. After scoring a combined 80 points in two playoff wins over the Phoenix Mercury, Napheesa Collier was held to 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting in the Lynx’s Game 1 loss to the Sun.
For Cheryl Reeve — recently named WNBA Coach of the Year for the fourth time — she wants to see more out of guard Courtney Williams, who finished Game 1 with just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.
“Courtney Williams has to be able to score for us,” Reeve said. “A lot of her shot attempts are ones we usually see go down. They just weren’t able to find the bottom of the net. Our offense put a lot of pressure on our defense.”
According to ESPN, WNBA teams with a 1-0 lead in a best-of-five series have advanced 27 of 35 times.
–Field Level Media
