Marina Mabrey tied a Sun postseason record and set a new personal playoff high with six three-point shots in Sunday night’s WNBA playoff win over Minnesota. She finished with 20 points.
In Wednesday’s series-clinching win over the Indiana Fever, Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas had eight points and an assist in a 12-4 surge that turned a one-point deficit into a seven-point lead after three quarters.
“It’s playoff time,” she said afterwards. “This is what I live for. Playoffs is what I am waiting for all season long. This is my game. I can get you (by) scoring, rebounding and assisting. In that moment, my team needed me to score and that’s what I did.”
The Sun needed Thomas again on Sunday and she came through again. Thomas scored twice in the final minute to help Connecticut grab game one in their best-of-5 semifinal series with the Minnesota Lynx with a 73-70 victory at the Target Center.
Connecticut held Minnesota to just eight points in the fourth quarter. The Lynx missed 14 of 18 shots in the final 10 minutes. Collier, who averaged 40 points per game in the sweep of Phoenix in the opening round, made two field goals in the final 5:37 of the game. No one else from the Lynx could score.
“This was a tough, grind-it out victory. We knew it would be. That is how the whole series will be,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “Every single player made winning plays, especially down the stretch. It is a team effort and we to adjust to different things. Everyone that stepped on the floor (for Connecticut) did that. It was a terrific effort.”
Connecticut had a one-point lead when Thomas found an opening and drove to the rim with 53.8 seconds left to give the Sun a 71-68 lead.
With 33.9 seconds left, Collier found an opening and drove to the basket to cut the lead to one, 71-70.
With under 20 seconds left in the game, the Sun had the ball and the Lynx defense was making things a bit chaotic. In the lane, Thomas pushed the ball back to Burton, who tried to drive toward the basket but found her path blocked.
Burton topped it back to Thomas, who hit a one-handed shot with 11.7 seconds remaining for a 73-70 lead. The Sun played tight defense in the final 10 seconds to secure the win and move two wins away from another berth in the WNBA finals.
Thomas finished one assist shy of another triple double. She had 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Marina Mabrey led the Sun with 20 points, including six shots from three-point range, tying her playoff career-high. DiJonai Carrington had 13 points with DeWanna Bonner scoring 10 points and pulling down a team-leading 11 rebounds.
Collier led Minnesota with 19 points with Bridget Carleton scoring 17 points and Kayla McBridge adding 12.
“That is just want our group does. This is a team and a franchise, especially since AT (Thomas) got here, that hangs our hat on defense. We know that Minnesota is a great team and we have to give them different looks,” White said. “Each and every player played with multiple levels of effort. We had to be disruptive. We had to try to force them into uncomfortable shots.”
Game two is Tuesday night in Minnesota beginning at 9:30 p.m. Game three is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Defense and rebounding helped the Sun grab the lead for good. Carrington gave Connecticut a 67-66 lead with 5:13 remaining in the game, converting in the lane off a nice pass from Thomas.
When Bonner blocked Collier with 4:44 left, it sparked a fast break in the other direction that ended with Bonner taking a pass from Carrington and driving to the basket for two points and a 69-66 lead.
In the next 2:50, the Lynx went 1-for-5 from the floor with former Sun guard Courtney Williams missing three shots. On all four missed shots, the Sun came up with the rebound (two by Carrington and two by Bonner) to deny Minnesota an opportunity for a second chance.
Mabrey had the type of shooting night that the Sun hoped they would get when they made the mid-season trade with Chicago for her.
“AT (Thomas) does a really good job of finding me. I am always ready to shoot when she passes it to me.” Mabrey said. “That is what they brought me here to do, go out and shoot the ball.”
“I’ve been trying to get Marina to come here for a while. She is a competitor which is what we are here. She is something different we have seen in a Connecticut in a while. We needed three-point shooting desperately this season. Having her makes a big difference for us,” Thomas said.
The Sun led by four after Mabrey hit a three-point shot with 6:32 left in the third quarter but Minnesota used a 9-2 run to take a three-point lead after three quarters, 57-54.
Connecticut used a 9-2 run to close out the first quarter to lead by seven, 23-16. The Sun started the second quarter with a 6-2 run to extend the lead to nine points, 29-20. But Minnesota responded with a 15-0 run to take a 35-29 lead as the Sun went cold from the floor, missing seven of eight shots.
But the Sun closed out the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 42-38 lead at the break.
Notables
- The Sun have now won five of their last six WNBA semifinal Game 1s, including their last three seasons.
- Connecticut was just 2-of-3 from the charity stripe in tonight’s win. Their three free-throw attempts mark a new postseason franchise low (previously 5-of-9 at Las Vegas).
- The game saw 13 lead changes and eight ties.
- Thomas and Bonner tonight are the first pair of teammates in WNBA postseason history to each have at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the same game.
- The Sun become the first team this season to win a postseason contest on the road.
Carrington, Thomas earn All-Defensive honors
Sun guard DiJonai Carrington was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team, while t Sun forward Alyssa Thomas was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team, the league announced Sunday.
This marks the first time Carrington has received WNBA All-Defensive honors. Thomas picks up her fourth WNBA All-Defensive Second Team nod (2017, 2019, 2022), while also being named to the First Team twice in her 11-year WNBA career (2020, 2023).
Carrington, drafted 20th overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2021, is enjoying a career season, most recently being named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player on Wednesday. The 5-11 guard-forward averaged career highs of 12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.56 steals this regular season.
Carrington led the league with at least five steals (three) and ranked ninth in steals per game. She turned up her defense to another level during the latter half of the regular season as she recorded a career-high six steals against Indiana on August 28 and finished the season recording at least one steal in 13 of the Sun’s final 15 regular season match ups.
Thomas is known for her defensive versatility, guarding both the guard and post positions through her WNBA career. The five-time WNBA All-Star finished ninth in the league in rebounding (8.4) and tenth in steals (1.6) during the 2024 regular season.
Behind her and Carrington’s strong defensive play, the Sun led the league in fewest points allowed (73.6 points per game) and defensive rating (94.1), and also ranked third in steals per game (8.2).
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Coller is Defensive Player of the Year
The WNBA announced that Lynx forward Napheesa Collier has been selected the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year. Collier received 36 votes from a national panel of 60 media members and broadcasters in earning her first Defensive Player of the Year honor. She joins Sylvia Fowles (2016, 2021) as the only players in Lynx history to win the award.
Collier, the former UConn star, wrapped up her sixth season in Minnesota by starting 34 games and averaging 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.91 steals and 1.41 blocks per game. She was second in the WNBA in steals, third in rebounds and seventh in blocks, posting career-high averages in all three categories.
Originally selected by Minnesota in the first round (sixth overall) in 2019, Collier has averaged 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in 160 regular season games. She won her second Olympic gold medal on Aug. 11 in Paris, France.
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Reeve wins two awards
Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve was named the WNBA Coach of the Year in a vote by a national panel of 67 sportswriters and broadcasters and named executive of the year in voting by top basketball executives from each of the league’s 12 teams.
In winning the WNBA Coach of the Year Award, Reeve received 62 votes from a national panel of 67 sportswriters and broadcasters. New York Liberty Head Coach Sandy Brondello finished in second place with four votes, and Indiana Fever Head Coach Christie Sides received one vote.
In her 15th season as the Lynx’s head coach, Reeve guided Minnesota to a 30-10 (.750) record, the second-best mark in the league and the most victories in the franchise’s 26-year history. Minnesota earned the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs and have advanced to the semifinals. Minnesota will continue its pursuit of a record fifth WNBA championship.
In addition to her roles with the Lynx, Reeve served as head coach of the U.S. women’s basketball national team won their eighth straight Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics in August.
Reeve won the executive of the year award by being named on the most ballots (10). Seattle Storm General Manager Talisa Rhea (eight ballots) and Connecticut General Manager Darius Taylor (seven ballots) finished in second and third place, respectively.
As the Lynx’s President of Basketball Operations, Reeve added and retained key players through free agency and trades before and during the 2024 season
On Feb. 1, the first day of the free-agent signing period, the Lynx signed Alanna Smith and guard Courtney Williams and re-signed Carleton. Smith started 39 games and averaged 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.46 blocks per game. Williams started all 40 games and averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 assists per game.
In trades, Minnesota acquired guard Natisha Hiedeman from the Sun before the start of the season and forward Myisha Hines-Allen from the Washington Mystics at the trade deadline in August. Hiedeman (4.9 ppg, 2.4 apg) and Hines-Allen (7.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg with Minnesota) both contributed off the bench.
WNBA releases included in this report.
Connecticut 73, Minnesota 70
At Minneapolis
Connecticut (73) Bonner 4-17 0-0 10, Thomas 8-12 1-1 17, Jones 3-7 0-0 6, Carrington 6-12 0-0 13, Mabrey 7-19 0-0 20, Nelson-Ododa 1-1 0-0 2, Burton 2-7 1-2 5. Totals 31-75 2-3
Minnesota (70) Carleton 6-10 2-2 17, Collier 7-16 5-5 19, Smith 2-9 2-3 6, McBride 5-11 1-1 12, Williams 3-12 1-2 8, Hiedeman 1-3 0-0 2, Hines-Allen 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 27-65 11-13
Connecticut 23 19 15 16 — 73
Minnesota 16 22 24 8 — 70
Three-point shots: Connecticut 9-22 (Bonner 2-8, Carrington 1-2, Mabrey 6-11, Burton 0-1); Minnesota 5-20 (Carleton 3-6, Collier 0-2, Smith 0-4, McBride 1-5, Williams 1-2, Hiedeman 0-1); Attendance: 8,506
WNBA semifinals
(3) Connecticut at (2) Minnesota
Sunday, Sept. 29
Connecticut 73, Minnesota 70, Connecticut leads series, 1-0
Tuesday, Oct. 1
Connecticut at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
Friday, Oct. 4
Minnesota at Connecticut, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
Sunday, Oct. 6
Minnesota at Connecticut, TBA, if necessary
Tuesday, Oct. 8
Connecticut at Minnesota, TBA, if necessary, ESPN2
