The Minnesota Lynx’s smallest player might provide their biggest spark.
The Lynx will look to lean on 5-foot-8 Courtney Williams once again when they tip off against the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Williams scored a game-high 23 points Sunday and added eight rebounds and seven assists to lift the Lynx to the Game 1 win. It was her first 20-point outburst since Aug. 16 — a stretch of 14 games.
“When she’s out there hooping and confident,” said teammate Kayla McBride, “it’s contagious.”
Meanwhile, Phoenix is desperate to even the series before it shifts to the desert.
The Mercury have reason for optimism heading into Game 2. Despite playing on tired legs in Game 1, they were tied at 59-all after three quarters before being outscored 23-10 in the fourth.
Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said his players needed to limit the number of second-chance points allowed. He offered a short and simple strategy for how they can achieve that goal.
“Box out,” Tibbetts said.
The Mercury also will try to find a better groove on offense. They shot only 3-for-23 (13 percent) from beyond the arc in the series opener.
Tibbetts said he wanted his team to keep looking for open shots even though they didn’t fall in the series opener.
“You’ve just got to read the game,” Tibbetts said. “… That’s a tough shooting night (in Game 1), but they do a good job of impacting and contesting shots. They were flying around defensively.
“We want to be aggressive, downhill. If there’s no help, we want to score in the paint. If there is help, we’d like to kick (out for) the 3s.”
Meanwhile, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve expects another challenge Tuesday night. She praised her players for sticking together in tough moments, such as when they trailed 47-40 at halftime Sunday.
“They problem-solve together, they don’t finger-point,” Reeve said. “You didn’t go back to the locker room with people blaming. They went right into listening and (discussing), ‘What can we do together? Who needs to do what?’ It’s a mature group, emotionally mature. I didn’t do anything to bring that along, that’s just who they’ve always been.”
Williams (23 points), McBride (21) and Napheesa Collier (18) will look to maintain a balanced attack on offense after leading the way in Game 1. Reeve also praised the performance of reserve player Maria Kliundikova, who had four points and four rebounds in eight minutes and finished with a plus-14 rating while she was on the court.
“Her eight minutes were the best eight minutes of the game,” Reeve said.
Phoenix will turn to Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas, who led the way in Game 1 with 22 points and 18 points, respectively. Satou Sabally will look to get on track offensively after missing eight of 11 shots from the field in Game 1, which included all five 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
