MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Lynx withstood a late charge by the Golden State Valkyries to take an 82-71 win in front of 8,771 at Target Center on Saturday.
Golden State took the early lead with three-pointers from forward Kayla Thornton and guard Tiffany Hayes, who also make a layup. Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride answered with a three-pointer. Golden State led 8-3 with 7:41 left in the opening quarter.
Minnesota pressed their first run of the game. McBride made two free throws after getting fouled by Valkyries guard Veronica Burton. Lynx guard Courtney Williams made a jump shot. Forward Alanna Smith dazzled the crowd with a hook shot. Forward Napheesa Collier made a layup. Williams, along with fellow Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman each made three-pointers. After a 14-0 run, the Lynx lead 17-8 with 2:46 left in the first quarter.
Thornton, the veteran forward, lead the Golden State comeback with a layup, which was soon followed by a fast break layup after stealing the ball on a bad pass from Smith. Minnesota forward Jessica Shepard made a fast break layup, which was answered by a put back layup from Thornton. With 1:05 left in the opening quarter, Minnesota led 19-14.
Shepard and Hayes traded free throws. Lynx forward Bridget Carleton and Thornton traded layups. The final basket of the period was a buzzer beating three-pointer by Lynx forward Diamond Miller to give the home team the 25-18 advantage at the break.
Thornton and Hayes were the only two players to score for the Valkyries in the opening quarter, while the Lynx had eight different players on the score board and went 52.9 percent shooting over the same time.
The first second quarter possession for Golden State ended with a shot clock violation, furthering the Valkyries woes. The turnover led to a turnaround jump shot by Collier.
Hayes added to her point total with a three-pointer, but Collier added layups in the next two Lynx possessions to give her six points in the quarter and a 31-21 Lynx lead with 7:54 left until halftime.
On the next Golden State possession, guard Kate Martin hit a three-pointer, becoming the first Valkyries player in the game not named Tiffany Hayes or Kayla Thornton to score. She then fouled Miller, who made both free throws giving the Lynx a nine-point lead.
Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle made a layup, which was answered by a three-pointer from Smith. Thornton made a turnaround jump shot to beat the shot clock buzzer. The score was 36-28 in favor of Minnesota when timeout was called with 4:52 left in the half.
Neither team was able to find an advantage for the rest of the quarter. Burton was fouled by Williams and converted one of two free throws, but then Williams made a jump shot in response. Martin scored on a layup. Collier hit a three-pointer to extend the lead back to ten points. However, Golden State forward Monique Billings made a three-pointer and a layup shortly after to cut the deficit to five points. Minnesota took the 41-36 halftime lead.
The teams began the third quarter much like they played the second quarter. The probed each other and tried finding the open shots, making it difficult on each other’s defenses. As they answered each other, the Valkyries also needed to chip away at the five point deficit.
Burton hit a three-pointer to kick off the third quarter, which was promptly answered by a jump shot from Williams. Valkyries forward Stephanie Talbot made a three-pointer to pull the deficit to one, but Williams added one of her own to extend the Lynx lead back to four points. Talbot then exchanged layups with Collier. Burton and Carleton exchanged baskets. Shepard made a put back layup, which Hayes answered with a three pointer. Shepard made a layup and Hayes hit another three-pointer. Minnesota led 54-52 with 5:34 left in the third quarter and the momentum clearly swinging towards Golden State.
Fagbenle’s layup tied the game 54-54 and a layup by Talbot gave the Valkyries the lead. However just a few seconds later, Talbot fouled Collier, whose free throws tied the game up again at 56-56 with 4:32 left in the third quarter at the official’s timeout.
Williams made a three-pointer to lift the Lynx into the lead. Hayes and McBride exchanged layups. Then with 2:34 left in the quarter, the officials blew the whistle assessing Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase with a technical foul for arguing a call. Collier stepped to the line and sank the free shot. Minnesota led 62-58. It was Nakase’s first ever technical foul as a head coach.
Teams will often use technical fouls as inspiration to regroup and fight on, playing some of their best basketball after the seemingly worst moment of the game. If Golden State fans were looking for that kind of play, they were disappointed.
Collier scored a layup to extend Minnesota’s lead to six points. Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini made Golden State’s only remaining points of the quarter, two free throws after she was fouled by Hiedeman. Then Hiedeman made a layup which was followed up another late quarter three-pointer by Miller, this time it wasn’t a buzzer beater. Minnesota now led 69-60 after three quarters.
Things went from bad to worse for Golden State when the final frame began. Hayes was called for a common foul for pulling Shepard down during a play. However, the officials reviewed the call and upgraded it to a Flagrant 1, which gave Shepard two free throw attempts and Minnesota the ball. Shepard converted one of two free throws to make the score 70-60 in favor of the Lynx with 9:41 to go.
There was a scoring slump for the next three minutes and neither team could find the bottom of the basket. Collier made two free throws after being fouled by Fagbenle. A short while later, Carleton made a three-pointer to give Minnesota a 75-60 lead and forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 5:51 remaining in the game.
Hayes and McBride exchanged three-pointers. Hayes and Collier traded baskets. With 2:19 left on the clock, Minnesota still held onto a 15 point lead and the Valkyries were beginning to run out of time.
Talbot hit a three-pointer and Fagbenle made a layup. Then Fagbenle made one of two free throws after getting fouled by Shepard. It was 80-71 in favor of the Lynx with 46.9 second left on the clock.
Minnesota called a reset timeout. McBride was fouled by Talbot after receiving the inbounds pass. Both free throws were good. That would be the last of the scoring and Minnesota won the game by a final score of 82-71.
Minnesota went 29-for-64 (45.3 percent) from the field; 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) from three-point range; and 13-for-15 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line. They committed 10 turnovers that led to five Valkyries points.
“I thought we were really good offensively in our movement,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “We were much better today than I thought we were in Golden State. We were ready. We were ready for some of the schemes and where we needed to make extra passes. I thought we were really timely there.”
Golden State went 27-for-65 (41.5 percent) from the field; 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) from three point range; and 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe. They made 12 turnovers which led to 19 Lynx points.
“We did not start off defensively great. We gave up a 25-point quarter. We didn’t even touch them. We didn’t even physically pick them up. We know where we have to be better,” said Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase.
Regarding her first ever technical foul as a head coach, she added, “I wanted to get one. I wanted to. I felt like we were getting not a great whistle in terms of the physicality and so if I don’t say anything, then probably either my girls are going to get one or someone was going to get injured. So yeah, I did that just to let the refs know, ‘Hey, everyone step away healthy.’”
Golden State held the 32-28 advantage in points-in-the-paint, but Minnesota led 15-13 in second chance points and 21-12 in bench scoring. Fast break points were split between the teams 4-4. There were three ties and three lead changes. Golden State’s largest lead was five points while Minnesota’s was 15.
“Golden State is a team that is never going to lack effort. There’s a strong commitment to their schemes. They know exactly their reads. We didn’t necessarily get to the level of energy and passion to go toe-to-toe with them. That’s why they were able to get the easy stuff,” said Reeve.
Napheesa Collier led the Lynx with 22 points. Courtney Williams added 15 points and Kayla McBride chipped in 12 points. Jessica Shepard led the Lynx in rebounding with 10 rebounds, while Alanna Smith dished a team leading six assists. Smith left the game early in the third quarter and recorded five points, five rebounds and six assists in 19 minutes of play, after having been on pace for a triple double.
“They were just getting really easy shots. They were open from three. They were open in the paint, getting offensive rebounds, cutting. We really tried to lock in on that and get back to what our scheme was,” said Collier. “Teams are going to go on runs but we have to stay poised and in control and make sure that we get back to what our defense is.”
The Valkyries were led by 23 points from Tiffany Hayes. Kayla Thornton added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Stephanie Talbot pitched in 10 points. Talbot, Hayes and Veronica Burton each dished four assists to lead Golden State.
“Overall, our girls fought. They fought to the very end. Everyone who stepped in contributed,” said Nakase.
Minnesota (16-2) hosts the Chicago Sky (5-11) Sunday at 6 p.m. CT, while Golden State (9-8) travels to Atlanta (11-7) for a 6:30 p.m. CT contest with the Dream on Monday.
