All-Around Effort Leads To Lynx Victory Over Mercury

The Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury 75-62 on Sunday night, clinching the season series with the Mercury in a hard-fought and entertaining contest. Minnesota has won four of their last five games and moves to 10-7 on the season. Finishing the first half of the season on such a strong note has to feel good heading into the back half of the season.

The theme of the night was balance. All five Lynx starters scored in double figures, led by Odyssey Sims with 15. But the balance was not just in the box score, Lynx players took turns scoring tonight and demonstrated a real knack for finding the hot hand that kept their offense going throughout a physical and occasionally chippy contest.

Minnesota came out strong, scoring 23 points in the first period and playing a free-flowing, fun brand of basketball that had the Target Center crowd rocking. That effort was spearheaded by Sims, who led the Lynx in scoring through halftime and pushed the pace at every opportunity.

The second period got a little choppy. Highlighted by a strange sequence where Lexie Brown was called for a foul that ended up being reviewed and turned into a Brittney Griner flagrant, things just got muddied up. Sims kept the Lynx in it, but they only scored 13 points in the period

Everything tightened up in the second half. Steph Talbot and Napheesa Collier both caught fire in the third and the Lynx held the Mercury to just 11 points as a team. Then Danielle Robinson took over in the fourth and Minnesota ended up closing out the game outscoring the Mercury in both of the final periods to win by 13.

This was an important game to win. Taking care of business at home is a key part of being a great team and to get a win against a quality team like the Mercury right before starting the second half of the season has to feel good. Minnesota played a great all-around game and reaped the rewards.

The Lynx defense was a little rocky at times (especially in their tendency to foul Bonner), but the final numbers are impressive. The Lynx didn’t allow the Mercury to score over 20 points in any period, held them to 38.7 percent shooting from the field and out-rebounded them 48 to 24. The rebounding especially stands out. Phoenix had just three offensive rebounds in the game—the Lynx cleaned up.

A Night Of Double-Doubles

Sylvia Fowles became the all-time leader in double-doubles on Sunday. You can read all about that here. Additionally, Napheesa Collier got her first-ever WNBA double-double on the same night, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. That’s a poetic occurrence right there.

Quick Hits 

  • Temi Fagbenle looked solid in her first night back in action. She played 22:05 minutes and finished with two points, four rebounds and four assists. She brings an energy, speed and mobility to the forward position that the team has been lacking. She sets good screens as well.
  • While her shooting is still her biggest asset for the Lynx, Steph Talbot showed off a very nice passing touch on Sunday, hitting her teammates in stride for a few easy buckets. She finished with 4 assists to go along with 13 points and six rebounds. Reeve called Sunday night Talbot’s best night in a Lynx uniform.

Up Next

The Lynx stay at home to take on the Seattle Storm on Wednesday.