Minnesota never trailed Connecticut, despite losing two of the four quarters

The Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 101-89 at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday, and led from the opening basket to the last. Minnesota never trailed at any point in the game and never even tied it, despite Connecticut winning two of the four quarters and making 15 of its 28 three-pointers. The crowd was 8,911.

That is not a contradiction so much as a description of how the game went. Napheesa Collier scored the first basket, and by the end of the first quarter the Lynx led 27-12. They scored 10 straight points between 4:59 and 3:34 of that quarter, from 13-6 to 23-6, and they built a 20-point lead early in the second quarter, 37-17 with 7:55 left. By halftime it was 55-43, and a run of nine straight points across the break, from 52-43 to 61-43, kept the cushion at 18 early in the third.

Connecticut's two quarters

Connecticut took the second quarter 31-28 and the third 24-21. The Sun got within seven, 71-64, with 2:28 left in the third quarter, and within seven again, 76-69, with 9:44 left in the fourth. Minnesota answered each time. An 8-0 run early in the fourth, from 78-71 to 86-71, put the game out of reach again. The Lynx won the fourth quarter 25-22.

The result keeps Minnesota at 32-10, the WNBA's best record and its No. 1 playoff seed, one game ahead of the Golden State Valkyries (31-11) with the regular season nearly finished.

The finish

Connecticut never got the lead under 12 in the last two minutes. A Kayla McBride three made it 97-82 with 1:39 left, and Leger-Walker answered with a three of her own, 97-85. Kneepkens made two free throws to cut it to 97-87, and Liatu King's jumper pushed it back to 99-87 with 56.8 seconds to play. The last exchange was the game's sharpest. Nia Brodie stole a loose ball from Leger-Walker at 41 seconds, Leger-Walker blocked Aari McDonald's running layup at 37, and Minnesota kept the ball on an offensive team rebound and scored on McDonald's driving layup, 101-87. Hailey Van Lith's jumper with 17 seconds left set the final margin.

The numbers

Connecticut shot better, 53% (31 of 59) to Minnesota's 50% (36 of 72), and it made 15 of 28 threes to the Lynx's 4 of 21. Minnesota won the game somewhere else. The Lynx made 25 of 27 free throws to the Sun's 12 of 19, scored 50 points in the paint to 32, and turned the ball over 11 times to Connecticut's 17. They had 12 steals to the Sun's nine, and 10 offensive rebounds to five. Connecticut had the edge in fast-break points, 14-4, and in assists, 22-20.

Collier led Minnesota with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, making all five of her free throws. Olivia Miles added 21 points, making 7 of 10 shots and six of six free throws, with six assists. Natasha Howard started and had a double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds, six of them offensive. McBride had 14 points and six assists, and Courtney Williams scored 11.

For Connecticut, Diamond Miller, Leila Lacan and Gianna Kneepkens scored 15 each. Aaliyah Edwards had 12. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 10 with eight assists.

Scoring.

Minnesota: Napheesa Collier 23, Olivia Miles 21, Natasha Howard 18, Kayla McBride 14, Courtney Williams 11, Dorka Juhász 4, Aari McDonald 4, Nia Brodie 2, Liatu King 2, Maya Caldwell 2.

Connecticut: Diamond Miller 15, Leila Lacan 15, Gianna Kneepkens 15, Aaliyah Edwards 12, Raegan Beers 11, Charlisse Leger-Walker 10, Ashlon Jackson 6, Nell Angloma 3, Hailey Van Lith 2, Saniya Rivers 0.

By quarter: Minnesota 27, 28, 21, 25. Connecticut 12, 31, 24, 22.

What is next

Minnesota plays at the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, September 22, and hosts Indiana again on Thursday, September 24, to close the regular season. Connecticut hosts the Washington Mystics on Tuesday and the Toronto Tempo on Thursday.