Sportsnaut
Napheesa Collier capped a 31-point performance Thursday night by canning a turnaround jumper with 1.8 seconds left as the Minnesota Lynx rallied in overtime for a 99-97 win over the Seattle Storm in Seattle and a sweep of the teams’ home-and-home series.
Collier, who scored a career-high 33 points on Tuesday in a 104-93 win over Seattle, was 11 of 21 from the field Thursday while adding eight rebounds, six blocked shots and five assists. Diamond Miller and Kayla McBride each added 19 points and Dorka Juhasz hit for 11.
Jewell Loyd pumped in a game-high 41 points for the Storm (4-11) but also committed a turnover with 7.6 seconds left in overtime that set up Collier’s winning bucket. Sami Whitcomb came off the bench to add 22 points and Ezi Magbegor contributed 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Minnesota (6-9) forced 18 turnovers and cashed them in for 27 points.
Seattle forced overtime when Loyd capped a 12-point fourth quarter by hitting a short floater with 21.2 seconds left to even the score at 87. She had a chance to win the game after stealing the ball from Collier but missed a 3-pointer from near halfcourt at the horn.
Much as it did in Tuesday night’s win over Seattle, Minnesota got off to a fast start. It rattled off 10 straight points for a 12-5 lead and owned an 11-point advantage on two occasions before settling for a 25-17 cushion after 10 minutes.
The Storm generated a response late in the second quarter after trailing by 45-34 at the 2:38 mark following a layup by Nikolina Milic. Loyd and Whitcomb teamed for a 12-3 run to end the half, Loyd hitting a layup with 0.1 second left to slice the deficit to 48-46 at the break.
The teams exchanged runs in the third quarter, which ended with a flurry. Whitcomb’s 3-pointer was answered by one from Miller that sent the Lynx and Storm to the fourth period tied at 73.
–Field Level Media
