– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — The Minnesota Lynx’s pursuit of becoming the No. 1 overall seed officially ended tonight, yet their scorching run to take the unofficial title of “team no one wants to run into during the postseason” reached its crescendo with another statement victory away from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Bridget Carleton nailed a game-winning 34-foot three-pointer with 3.4 seconds remaining to cap off a wild see-saw affair in the final two minutes, lifting the Lynx to a 78-76 victory over the Connecticut Sun inside Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday evening. Former University of Connecticut star Napheesa Collier led all scorers with 25 points as Minnesota, in a span of just over 48 hours, has defeated both the New York Liberty — who clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the WNBA Playoffs with a win tonight in Washington — and the Sun, currently the No. 3 seed, on the road.
The win also gives the Lynx their seventh straight victory and their 14th win in their last 15 games, as well as clinched the franchise’s first-ever 30-win regular season.
Minnesota was in full control late in the third quarter after opening up a 12-point lead, but the Sun fought back early in the fourth to close the gap, leading to the frantic conclusion that saw the lead change hands eight times in the final 2:24. The first of those came on a three-point play by DiJonai Carrington, who made a layup as Carleton committed what was determined a flagrant foul for a blow to the head. The ensuing free throw gave the Sun a 70-69 advantage, Connecticut’s first lead since the final seconds of the first quarter. After DeWanna Bonner missed a three-pointer on the possession following the flagrant, Courtney Williams responded with a layup to give the Lynx the lead back.
Both Collier and Alyssa Thomas made two go-ahead shots during the final stages, with the former’s fadeaway jumper with 12.8 seconds vaulting Minnesota into a 75-74 lead. Off a Sun timeout, Bonner scored on a layup to give the Sun the lead, leading into the final lead change and game winner.
Carleton inbounded the ball to a cutting Collier, who was doubled-teamed inside by both Thomas a Tyasha Harris — the latter coming off Carleton to provide help to Thomas on Collier. That decision by Harris allowed Collier to spot an open Carleton, who backed up a couple of steps after inbounding the ball before receiving the pass and subsequently drained the high-arcing three over a scrambling Harris.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by New England-area photographer Amy Abramson-Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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