MINNEAPOLIS – The Phoenix Mercury came away from Target Center the winners of Game 2 of the best-of-five semifinal series against the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night. With a score of 89-83, the Mercury came out on top, stunning the 10,824-strong crowd. Mercury fans think they stole it, while Lynx fans believe their rivals were handed a gift.
Like Game 1 on Sunday, there was no margin for error in the first quarter. Lynx forward Napheesa Collier opened the scoring with a jump shot for the early 2-0 lead. It was answered with a three-pointer from Mercury forward Satou Sabally to give Phoenix the 3-2 lead. Mercury forward Natasha Mack’s layup extended the Phoenix lead to three points, but Lynx forward Alanna Smith made a put back layup on a missed layup from forward Bridget Carleton and the margin was back to one. Mercury guard Kahleah Copper hit a three-pointer to make the score 8-4 with 7:20 left in the opening quarter.
Collier hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit back to one. Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas scored a layup to extend the lead back up to three. Alanna Smith made back-to-back layups to give the Lynx the lead and guard Kayla McBride’s three-pointer made the score 14-10 when Phoenix called timeout with 4:39 left in the first quarter. Minnesota was on a 10-2 run.
Sabally made her second three-pointer of the game to stop the Lynx run and then added a layup to put the Mercury back in the lead. Collier then scored a layup to give the lead back to Minnesota, and then stole a pass from Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner, which she took for a fast break layup to extend the Lynx lead to three.
Sabally scored another layup, her 10th point of the quarter, then Lynx forward Jessica Shepard made one of two free throws after getting fouled by Mack. Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani made both free throws after Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman fouled her, and the game was tied 19-19. Courtney Williams, the Lynx guard, made her first basket of the night just before the quarter ended. Minnesota led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter.
Courtney Williams was just getting started. She opened the second quarter with two jump shots. McBride added a layup. The Lynx went on an 8-0 run going back to the 6.9 second mark in the first quarter. Minnesota led 27-19 when Phoenix called timeout with 8:29 left until halftime.
Coming out of the timeout, Thomas made a layup to kill the Lynx run. Collier and Copper exchanged baskets before Minnesota went on their next run. Collier made two free throws after getting fouled by Sabally. McBride connected on a three-pointer and then made a jump shot. It was a 7-0 Lynx run and the lead was now 36-23 with 4:52 left until the halftime break.
Thomas converted two free throws after getting fouled by Williams, which killed the Lynx run. Alanna Smith hit a three-pointer for Minnesota but it was answered by a jump shot and a three-pointer from guard Sami Whitcomb.
Minnesota went on one last second quarter run with jump shots from Collier and Courtney Williams. Mack answered with a layup for Phoenix. Collier hit a turnaround jumper. Williams stole a pass from Thomas and drove the lane for a fast break layup for an 8-2 run. It would have been 10-2 except when Collier went up for a layup with 33.1 seconds left in the half, Mack swatted it away for the block. However, Sabally was called for an away-from-the-play foul, which resulted in McBride going to the line for a technical foul shot. She made the free throw and the Lynx run was extended to 9-2. It was the final point before halftime, which Minnesota led 48-32.
The halftime goals for each team were simple. For Minnesota, protect and build on the 16 point lead and secure the victory. Phoenix needed to do whatever it takes to get some stops and chip away at the lead and get back in the ballgame with only 20 minutes to do it in.
Courtney Williams opened the second half with a midrange jump shot which was answered immediately by a layup from Akoa Makani. Carleton converted two free throws after getting fouled by Copper, and Akoa Makani hit a three-pointer to make the score 52-37 with 8:19 left in the third quarter.
Alanna Smith scored a layup and then blocked a Sabally layup attempt. The Mercury also turned the ball over on a shot clock violation, which resulted in a jump shot by Courtney Williams. Minnesota led 56-37 with 6:14 left in the third.
The Mercury would not give up. They pushed back. It started with a jump shot from Akoa Makani. That was answered by a three-pointer by Collier to push the Lynx lead to 20 points, but it would be the high water mark for the home team. Sabally answered with a three-pointer. Thomas made a layup. Forward Kathryn Westbeld made a layup and a three-pointer and Minnesota called timeout with 3:32 left in the third quarter. What was a 20 point lead suddenly was cut in half as the Lynx led 59-49. When play resumed, Thomas scored a layup which cut the Mercury deficit to eight and made the Phoenix run 12-3.
McBride killed the run with a three-pointer, but it was nullified by a three-pointer by Westbeld just before the end of the quarter. Minnesota led 62-54 at the end of the third quarter.
Shepard scored first in the fourth quarter to get the Lynx lead back up to ten points. McBride stole a pass from Sabally and converted it for a fast break layup forcing the Mercury to call timeout with 7:54 left in regulation and the score 66-54 in favor of the Lynx.
When play resumed, Phoenix went on a 10-2 run. Sabally made a three-pointer, which McBride answered with a layup. Then Whitcomb hit a jump shot, Bonner made a fast break layup, and Sabally drained another three-pointer. Minnesota called timeout with a 68-64 lead with 5:18 left in regulation.
During the timeout, the scoreboard brought back the old video of Lynx legendary forward Maya Moore imploring fans to “make some noise” from her years as a player from the 2011-2018 seasons.
Alanna Smith made a layup to give Minnesota a six-point lead, but a Whitcomb three-pointer cut the lead to three-points. Both teams missed shots on subsequent possessions then Whitcomb stole the ball. The possession ended with a Sabally layup and free throw after getting fouled by Courtney Williams. The play tied the game 70-70 with 3:32 left in regulation.
McBride hit a three-pointer to give Minnesota the 73-70 lead. Bonner converted a steal into a fast break layup. Collier made a layup and it was a three point Lynx lead again. Courtney Williams jump shot extended the lead to five points, 77-72 with 1:55 left on the clock when Phoenix called a reset timeout.
Bonner drove to the basket for a layup and was blocked by Collier with 50 seconds left. Sabally missed her layup after the inbounds pass but got her own rebound and tipped in her miss. Minnesota called timeout with 46.8 seconds left and a three point lead.
Bridget Carleton took the ball from the official on the sideline inbound and looked for an open teammate. She held the ball too long and turned the ball over on a five-second violation. Thomas scored a layup for Phoenix with 25.3 seconds left to make it a 77-76 Lynx lead.
After a reset timeout by Minnesota, McBride was fouled by Sabally, which required another inbounds pass. Courtney Williams was then fouled by Copper. The Lynx guard made both free throws and Minnesota led 79-76 with 20.7 left in regulation.
After a Phoenix timeout, the Mercury were running out of opportunities to get it right. Whitcomb launched a three-pointer to tie but missed it. Thomas grabbed the rebound, passed to Sabally, who dished to Whitcomb for another attempt. She drilled it to tie the score 79-79 with 3.4 seconds left in regulation.
Now the Lynx had one final chance to get it right. After a Minnesota timeout, Collier took a midrange step back jump shot that hit the front of the rim. The Mercury forced overtime.
The momentum had clearly shifted inside of Target Center. The Mercury felt like they were on a roll and the Lynx were frustrated. When the overtime period started, Phoenix continued punching with a Thomas jump shot to make it 81-79 to give the Mercury the lead. Collier fouled Thomas, who made one of two free throws. Then Copper hit a three-pointer. It was now 85-79 and Phoenix was on a 9-0 run going back to Whitcomb’s three-pointer at the end of regulation.
Courtney Williams ended the run with a jump shot. Collier made a jump shot to pull the Lynx back within two points. It was 85-83 in favor of Phoenix with 30.1 seconds left in overtime. The Mercury called timeout.
That would be the closest that Minnesota would get. The rest of the scoring was done by Thomas, who went to the free throw line three consecutive times after getting fouled twice by Alanna Smith and once by Collier. Thomas went four-for-six from the line in the last 21.7 seconds of overtime to ice the game for the Mercury. Phoenix won 89-83 to win Game 2 and tie the best-of-five series 1-1.
Phoenix went 33-for-79 (41.8 percent) from the field; 13-for-32 (40.6 percent) from three-point range; and 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line. They committed 16 turnovers which led to 19 Lynx points.
“I think we are gassed. We’re fatigued. We look like it mentally, physically, but we battled through it. Game 1, we kind of took a step back and Minnesota came at us and we weren’t ready for it, but we stepped up to the challenge tonight. Really really proud of our group,” said Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts.
Minnesota went 34-for-75 (45.3 percent) from the field; 7-for-28 (25.0 percent) from three-point range; and 8-for-9 (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe. They turned the ball over 18 times for 21 Mercury points.
“We didn’t respond. We talked about it at halftime, what this team was feeling and what would be next. Our response to it was very uncharacteristic,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “Some of the body language in terms of some of the players that we’re not used to seeing looks from, and then we needed to go get buckets. We had good opportunities but we weren’t strong enough. We weren’t tough enough. They ripped the game from us.”
Phoenix led 18-10 in second chance points and 25-3 in bench scoring, while the Lynx held the 38-36 advantage in points in the paint and 16-14 edge in fast break points. There were three ties and five lead changes in the game. Minnesota gave up a 20 point lead, while the largest lead for Phoenix was six points.
“I just think this [win] says that we are very resilient. We’re a tough group. It would have been very easy for us to give in tonight. I mean, a lot of teams would have. [I’m] just extremely proud of how we stepped up and battled,” said Tibbetts.
The Mercury were led by 24 points from Satou Sabally. Alyssa Thomas added 19 points while Sami Whitcomb pitched in with 13 points. Sabally led Phoenix with nine rebounds and Thomas led the team with 13 assists.
“We thought something else was going to happen [at the end of regulation]. Credit [Sabally]. She recognized they weren’t doing what we anticipated they were going to do,” said Whitcomb. “[We] had kind of a backup action that we wanted to run if they didn’t, so we ran into that. I probably took a shot a little too fast. But like I said, we were prepared for a shot, so we crashed, we rebounded…we all trust each other to knock those down and take those shots.”
The Lynx were led by Napheesa Collier’s 24 points. Kayla McBride added 21 points. Courtney Williams chipped in 20 points and Alanna Smith was good for 13 points. Smith led the team in rebounding with nine rebounds while Williams paced the team with nine assists.
“Phoenix did a good job being aggressive, but I think we beat ourselves. Unforced turnovers, not taking care of the ball when they were pressuring us and I thin just keeping our composure in those situations is huge,” said Collier. “Definitely it’s frustrating but it’s a long series. It’s tied so now we have to go into Phoenix and take care of business.”
Game 3 of the WNBA Semifinals series between these teams will be played at PHX Arena in Phoenix on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT. The winner of this series will face the winner of the Indiana Fever-Las Vegas Aces series, which is also tied 1-1, in the 2025 WNBA Finals.
