Minnesota Lynx defeats Sun 90-81 to take a 2-1 lead in the semifinal series

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Game 4 takes place on Sunday in Connecticut and the Lynx are looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017.

After struggling offensively in the last game, Napheesa Collier wasn't going to let that happen again.

The Lynx star scored 26 points and Minnesota beat the Connecticut Sun 90-81 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinals.

“Everyone has an off night and I try to contribute in other ways to help the team,” said Collier, who scored just nine points on 3 of 14 shooting in Game 2.

She worked hard on both ends of the court all season and the league MVP runner-up had the confidence knowing the poor shooting was an isolated incident.

With Connecticut coming late, Collier also made three straight plays to change the momentum and secure the win.

Minnesota led 81-73 with 3:03 remaining when she scored, then got a deflection on the other side and capped the game with a 3-pointer from Alanna Smith, making it a 13-point game.

“It's crisis time, I knew I had to be aggressive, especially in one-on-one coverage,” Collier said. “Then, you know, since we were equal on the other side, we had to be really aggressive. In the end they played with desperation.”

Game 4 takes place on Sunday in Connecticut, with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended with Minnesota's fourth championship in seven years. Game 5 would be played Tuesday night in Minnesota if necessary.

Collier had 16 points in the first half Friday night and was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven points after one quarter and 48-36 at halftime thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the first 20 minutes.

The Sun tried to rally and cut the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that's all they could achieve.

“A difficult thing for us. They’re doing what they wanted to do on offense,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We didn’t prepare well enough for the game today. We were outplayed, outplayed and outwitted.”

Brionna Jones, who had just eight points in the first two games combined, led Connecticut with 21.

DeWanna Bonner scored 16 points for the Sun in the third quarter and moved into second place on the WNBA career postseason scoring list. She overtook Candace Parker, who reached 1,149 in her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159 points and is ahead of Parker with a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Phoenix's Diana Taurasi is in the lead with 1,455.

All five Sun starters scored in double figures, but the bench barely contributed. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.

The first two games saw discord between teams who prided themselves on their physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams of the regular season – the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game and the Lynx 75.6.

There were hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn't much of that at all in Game 3.

“I just thought it was a slugfest through and through,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of the first two games. “And I’m pretty sure they felt the same way.”

There was also a lot of nonsense on the court, particularly between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The two were teammates in Chicago last year and say it's all fun on the court and there's no bad blood between them.