The Game

It’s time for a WNBA rookie showdown.

Arike Ogunbowale and Napheesa Collier are the two names on everyone’s mind when it comes to the battle for WNBA Rookie of the Year. Though there is more to the race than how they perform head-to-head, especially given that they don’t play the same position, there is no question that a lot of people will use this game as an opportunity to compare the performances of the two rookies.

Outside of that matchup, this would be a big win for the Lynx. They are just one-half game back from the Phoenix Mercury and the No. 7 seed and only two games behind the Seattle Storm for No. 6. Minnesota has a record of 13-15 on the season while the Wings are 9-18.

Much of what the Wings do goes through Ogunbowale and she has certainly had a successful rookie season. Odyssey Sims will be a tough matchup for her though. Sims is a tough, physical defender who takes her matchups personally. Sims is a veteran—she knows how to frustrate her opponents. She’ll also make Ogunbowale work hard on the defensive end.

The Lynx’s best strategy to win this game is to make Ogunbowale inefficient. She is prone to heat-check play and while when she’s hot she is hard to stop she also can shoot the Wings out of games when she is off. 

What: Lynx vs. Wings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Target Center
Watch: League Pass
Listen: BOB FM 106.1.

Lynx Connection

Lynx forward Karima Christmas-Kelly spent three years with the Wings before coming to Minnesota as a free agent this season. Christmas-Kelly had two of the best seasons of her career in 2016 and 2017 with the Wings, averaging 12.4 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. While Christmas-Kelly is out for the rest of the Lynx season while she rehabs a knee surgery, it would be great to see her get back to that level next season.

Additionally, it’s easy to forget about this considering she became so synonymous with the Lynx/Sparks rivalry, but remember that Sims started off her career on the Wings back in 2014 when they were the Tulsa Shock. She played three seasons with the team including their first year in Dallas in 2016 before being traded to Los Angeles.

Something You Might Not Have Known…

On Tuesday, Collier became the first rookie to have a 4×4 game (pts/rbs/ast/stl) since Los Angeles guard Ana Dabović in 2015 and the first rookie to register two such games since Candace Parker in 2008 for the Sparks. She is heading into this matchup with some real momentum.

Injury Report:

Lynx: Christmas-Kelly (knee) and Jessica Shepard (ACL) are out.
Wings: Azura Stevens (foot), Tayler Hill (knee) and Skylar Diggins-Smith (personal) are out.

Probable Starters:

Lynx: PG—Sims, SG—Talbot, SF—Collier, PF—Dantas, C—Fowles
Wings: PG—Ogunbowale, SG—Gray, SF—Thorton, PF—Johnson, C—Harrison