The Connecticut Sun escaped Minneapolis with a heart-stopping 90-89 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Monday at Target Center, handing the home side a gut-wrenching one-point defeat in what proved to be one of the tightest contests of the WNBA season.
Brittney Griner was the engine driving Connecticut’s offense all night, finishing as the game’s leading scorer with 29 points while also hauling down a game-high 10 rebounds for a dominant double-double. Her ability to score and control the glass gave the Sun a consistent interior presence that Minnesota struggled to contain throughout the contest.
Charlisse Leger-Walker kept the Connecticut offense humming from the perimeter, distributing the ball efficiently and finishing with a team-best 5 assists. The Sun’s collective ball movement was a hallmark of their performance — Connecticut finished with 21 assists on 33 made field goals, a strong indicator of the team’s unselfishness and offensive cohesion.
Connecticut shot an efficient 50 percent from the field, connecting on 33 of 66 attempts, and was particularly sharp from beyond the arc, knocking down 7 of 15 three-point attempts for a 47 percent clip. Those numbers helped offset a subpar night at the free-throw line, where the Sun converted just 17 of 29 attempts — a 59 percent mark that could have made the final margin far more comfortable had they been more reliable.
On the defensive end, Connecticut was a menace, recording 11 steals and 6 blocks. That pressure created disruption and helped the Sun maintain their slim advantage down the stretch, even as Minnesota mounted repeated threats to take the lead.
For the Lynx, Kayla McBride delivered a brilliant individual performance, pouring in 28 points in a valiant effort to keep Minnesota in the game. Her scoring kept the Lynx within striking distance and made the final minutes a genuine nail-biter, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to overcome Connecticut’s balanced attack.
Courtney Williams was Minnesota’s most versatile contributor, recording 6 assists and 9 rebounds to give the Lynx a double-threat presence off the bench or in the rotation. Her work on the glass and as a facilitator helped Minnesota stay competitive, but the Sun’s 32 total rebounds — including 7 on the offensive end — gave Connecticut crucial second-chance opportunities that proved decisive in such a close game.
Connecticut’s 12 turnovers were a concern, providing Minnesota with opportunities to claw back into the contest, and the Lynx made the Sun pay on several possessions. But Minnesota could not fully capitalize, and the Sun’s superior shooting efficiency and defensive activity ultimately tipped the scales.
The final margin of a single point underscores just how evenly matched these two teams were on the night. Minnesota will feel the sting of a home loss that slipped away by the narrowest of margins, while Connecticut can take confidence from finding a way to win on the road in a hostile environment when the game was on the line.
