Minnesota Lynx Secure Statement Victory Over Connecticut Sun
Napheesa Collier steadied the ship. Olivia Miles lit the fuse.
Between them, they powered the Minnesota Lynx to a 101-89 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, a statement victory that drags Minnesota to the brink of locking up the WNBA’s top seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Collier finished with 23 points, Miles with 21, but the numbers only tell part of it. The Lynx, coming off three straight losses, walked into a charged building, punched first and never really let Connecticut breathe.
Miles passes Caitlin Clark in the record book
This season has already been a breakthrough for Miles. Sunday turned it into a landmark.
With 9:31 left in the second quarter, the rookie stepped to the line and calmly dropped in a free throw. One point. But it was her 770th of the season, pushing her past Caitlin Clark’s previous WNBA rookie scoring record of 769 set with Indiana in 2024.
Play stopped for no ceremony, no pause. Yet the significance hung in the air. On a day when the Lynx were trying to reassert themselves at the top of the league, their rookie guard quietly rewrote the record book.
Lynx hit early, and hard
Minnesota played like a team tired of hearing about a losing streak.
The opening 3:30 were ruthless: an 11-2 burst, Collier scoring the game’s first four points, Courtney Williams — back in the building where she starred for five seasons — piling on with five of her own in that early run. The Sun looked rattled. The Lynx looked refreshed.
By the end of the first quarter, Minnesota led 27-12. Collier already had 10, controlling the tempo, the paint, and the mood.
The lead swelled to 45-26 late in the second after another Collier layup, the kind of simple, efficient finish that has defined her season. Connecticut looked in danger of being blown out of its own gym.
Then came the response.
The Sun finally found some rhythm, stringing together a 15-4 surge to slice the deficit to single digits. The crowd woke up. The game felt alive again.
Collier silenced it. Driving into contact, she converted a three-point play with 25.2 seconds left in the half, restoring a double-digit cushion and reminding everyone which team was in control.
Sun live and die by the three
Connecticut refused to go quietly. Their season has been battered by injuries, and it showed again when Saniya Rivers went down in the first quarter and did not return. Yet the Sun kept swinging from long range.
They hit 12 of their first 19 attempts from beyond the arc, a barrage that kept them in touch even as Minnesota’s offense rolled. Every time the Lynx looked ready to pull away for good, another Connecticut three dropped.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Sun had trimmed the gap to just seven. The building stirred again. The upset door creaked open.
Minnesota shut it. The Lynx tightened up defensively, got back to cleaner possessions, and rode their stars down the stretch. Connecticut would finish 15-for-28 from deep — a sparkling number that, on most nights, wins you a game. Against this version of Minnesota, it only made the scoreline respectable.
A farewell night with a familiar face
All of it unfolded against an emotional backdrop.
Before tipoff, the Sun honored former coach Mike Thibault, who led the franchise from its launch in 2003 through 2012 and helped establish Connecticut as one of the league’s flagship teams. This was the franchise’s second-to-last home game in the state before relocating to Houston next season, and the night carried the weight of history.
The tribute had an extra layer. On the opposite bench, Mike’s son, Eric Thibault, now serves as an assistant coach with Minnesota, alongside Lynx legend Lindsay Whalen. Whalen, of course, played in the 2004 WNBA Finals under Mike Thibault, a connection that threaded past and present together in one arena.
The stands were dotted with familiar faces: Tina Charles, Bria Hartley, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nicki Collen and other former Sun players and coaches returned to pay their respects. They watched a franchise in transition fight, shoot, and scrap, but ultimately fall to a team chasing a title.
One team surging, one team searching
For Connecticut, the loss was their fifth in a row, dropping them to 10-32. A season ravaged by injuries took another hit with Rivers’ exit, and the final days in Connecticut are turning into a grind rather than a celebration.
For Minnesota, everything points forward. The Lynx now sit at 32-10, needing just one more win — or a Golden State loss — to clinch the league’s top seed and secure home court all the way through the postseason. They close the regular season with a home-and-home set against Indiana, starting on the road Tuesday.
The stakes are clear. The path is simple. With Collier anchoring them and Miles rewriting records on the fly, the Lynx don’t just look like a team chasing the top seed.
They look like a team ready to own it.
