Game Story
Just hours before tip-off, it was officially announced that both Napheesa Collier, the runner-up for the 2024 WNBA MVP award, and Alyssa Thomas, third place for the 2023 MVP, would miss the game due to temporary injuries. Both superstars are offensive and defensive engines for their teams, so you knew it was going to be an interesting game.
For those who have not been plugged in with the Phoenix Mercury, they came into the game with an impressive 4-1 record despite rostering a completely new team. All 11 active players were not on the Phoenix team last season. They still boasted the third highest three-point volume mark, as well as the fifth best in accuracy. In fact, just earlier this week, they engineered a dramatic 16-point second half comeback against the Chicago Sky by shooting 16 of 40 from perimeter.
Right from the get go, it looked like the visiting Minnesota Lynx were ready to fight fire with fire. Kayla McBride splashed in a triple just 15 seconds into the game.
But boy, were we misled.
Minnesota turned the ball over six times in the first quarter, an issue they’ve faced a lot this season. Phoenix attacked the paint, with the towering replacement starter, Kalani Brown, scoring at will. The effect of not having Collier was evident. The Lynx only survived by hitting the offensive glass early and often. The Mercury also didn’t do themselves any favors though, coughing the ball up five times themselves.
A combined 11 turnovers and 1 for 10 total from perimeter capped off an ugly first period with Minnesota hanging onto a slim 20-17 lead thanks to 10 points from McBride, seven of which came at the charity stripe.
Both teams continued the sloppy play in the second quarter. They opened with dueling turnovers. The Lynx frustration was evident by both McBride and Cheryl Reeve in this offensive possession.
Sloppy play turned into dangerous play, as the newly acquired Satou Sabally steamrolled Bridget Carleton with an uncalled moving screen. Fortunately, Carleton would be okay and return in the second half with Minnesota trailing 38-39.
Here's that Satou screen on Carleton that took her out for the rest of the 1st half. Looks like she was motioning to her face. She'll probably return as she's just been on the bench this whole time in uniform.
— Leo S (@yoleo.bsky.social) 2025-05-31T02:52:35.489Z
The script was much the same in the third quarter. More Mercury paint points while the Lynx were just barely hanging around thanks to some desperation jump shots. The final count was 44 points in the paint by Phoenix compared to Minnesota’s 22. Conversely, Minnesota converted on 8 three pointers compared to 3 for Phoenix. Woof.
It looked like the Lynx undefeated record was going to come to an end early in the fourth quarter. The Mercury built their largest lead of the game of seven with just eight minutes left to go. Minnesota was missing open shots with no end in sight. Even when they tried to grit through it and claw back to within a single possession, they’d face more self-inflicted wounds.
Most notably, there were two possessions in the final two minutes where Phoenix grabbed two or more offensive rebounds to seemingly break the Minnesota’s back. You just cannot expect to win when you’re giving your opponent three or four shot attempts on the same possession in clutch time.
Enter: Courtney Williams.
After going just 3 of 15 from the field in another slog of a game, Williams canned a vintage mid-range jumper to take a one point lead. An ensuing miss was sandwiched by a clutch three pointer to knot things up with 53 seconds left in the game.
Minnesota finally buckled down to hold Phoenix to a 24-second shot clock violation, but Natisha Hiedeman, who had scored all six of her points earlier in the game, biffed a poor layup attempt with too much time on the clock. This gave the home team one last chance to run down the clock to try and score a game-winner.
All they had to do was inbound the ball after a timeout.
McBride, who had gone cold for much of the second half, stepped in to cleanly intercept a poor inbound attempt. For some reason, the Mercury attempted to intentionally foul, perhaps to stop the transition attempt. However, the officials swallowed their whistles. Williams raced up the court and found Hiedeman camped out on the right corner, in front of the Phoenix bench. Wide open.
Cash.
The Mercury called their final timeout, but were unable to get a clean look. Sami Whitcomb tossed up a wild three-point attempt that never had a chance. The Lynx, despite 16 turnovers, 11 offensive rebounds surrendered, and a frigid 36.2% shooting night, pushed their win streak to six.
All without their MVP.
Natisha Hiedeman rightfully gets the courtside interview after hitting the game-winning triple. She scored all 9 of her points in the 4th quarter "Bottom line, we love each other so much, on and off the court. Our chemistry shows to everybody."
— Leo S (@yoleo.bsky.social) 2025-05-31T04:08:35.251Z
Quick Hits
It was a tough night for Karlie Samuelson, who only got 14 minutes. She got back cut for a wide open layup in a half court situation, then responded with a wild layup attempt that was essentially a turnover. She was 0 for 4 on the night.
Speaking of tough nights, both Diamond Miller and Marième Badiane both played just a few minutes. Miller made three straight poor decisions on the offensive end that were all turnovers or led to turnovers. Badiane, who many expected to have a bigger role, smoked two fairly easy layups.
Bridget Carleton was okay after the rough spill, but continues to struggle from perimeter. Despite her one made triple, she went 1 of 5 and is now 5 of 28 (17.9%) on the season. She shot 44.4% on volume last season.
There were some bright spots though. Jessica Shepard, who started in place of Collier, had another admirable night on the glass, finishing with 8 points and 10 rebounds. She did miss three wide open jumpers though, showing her limitations.
Alanna Smith continues to flex her versatility. 2 for 6 from beyond the arc was below her average so far this year, but still quietly chipped in 19 points and 4 blocks tonight. She drained a number of big second half jumpers from the baseline. She also kept hitting the floor despite playing less than 100%.
Satou Sabally took a game-high 20 field goal attempts to finish with a game-high 26 points, 11 rebounds (4 OREB), 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. She was rather dominant out there, but not too efficient. Not only did she mow down Carleton, but also took down McBride once as well.
It was AAPI Night celebration at PHX Arena. There was a nice ovation for Minnesota’s Alissa Pili when she checked into the game in the first half.
Highlights
Box Score
Lead Tracker
Up Next
Minnesota don’t have much time to dwell on the victory, as they travel to visit the feisty expansion Golden State Valkyries (2-3) on Sunday, June 1st at 7:30 PM CT. This will be the opening day of the Commissioner’s Cup games so you can bet Chase Center will be packed. If not for that, then some revenge for their men’s team getting eliminated by Minnesota.