Napheesa Collier notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx cruised to an 88-65 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Natisha Hiedeman added 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting off the bench for Minnesota, which improved to a WNBA-best 8-0. Kayla McBride and Alanna Smith finished with 13 points apiece.
Lexi Held scored 16 points off the bench to lead Phoenix (5-3). Satou Sabally scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Kitija Laksa scored 10 points.
The Lynx outscored the Mercury 44-30 in the second half.
Monique Akoa Makani made the first basket of the second half to cut Phoenix’s deficit to 44-37.
Minnesota responded by scoring 23 of the final 35 points in the third quarter. Jessica Shepard sank two free throws to put the Lynx on top 67-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Mercury struggled to keep up from there. They were outscored 21-16 in the fourth quarter as they trailed by double digits for the remainder of the game.
Phoenix built a 23-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Mercury led 15-14 when they went on an 8-0 run to seize a 23-14 advantage. Laksa made a pull-up jump shot to start the run, which also included a driving layup by Sabally, a tip shot by Lexi Held and a pair of free throws by Sabally.
The Lynx scored the final five points of the first quarter to cut the deficit to four.
In the second quarter, Minnesota outscored Phoenix 25-12 to grab a nine-point advantage.
The Lynx scored the first nine points of the second quarter to cap a 14-0 run. Courtney Williams opened the second-quarter scoring with a jump shot before Hiedeman made a basket, Karlie Samuelson knocked down a 3-pointer and Smith added another basket to make it 28-23.
Phoenix fell behind by 11 points before Akoa Makani made a jump shot with 11 seconds remaining in the first half to pull the Mercury within 44-35.
–Field Level Media
