Satou Sabally scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Phoenix Mercury stormed back for an 89-83 overtime win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Alyssa Thomas added 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for Phoenix, which evened the best-of-five series at one win apiece. The Mercury trailed by as many as 20 points midway through the third quarter before rallying to force the extra session.
“We’re confident,” Sabally said. “We’re confident in us, and we’ve been battling all season long. You can’t give up a basketball game if you’re down whatever. I believed at halftime, and that’s what we did.”
Napheesa Collier scored 24 points on 10-for-22 shooting for Minnesota, while Kayla McBride had 21 points. Courtney Williams scored 20 to go along with seven rebounds and nine assists, and Alanna Smith added 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was disappointed in her team’s second-half meltdown.
“We didn’t respond,” she said. “We certainly talked about it at halftime — what this team was feeling and what would be next, and our response to it. It was very uncharacteristic. …
“And then we needed to go get buckets, and we had good opportunities and we weren’t strong enough, we weren’t tough enough. They ripped the game from us.”
The series will shift to Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday night.
Sami Whitcomb (13 points off the bench) provided the tying points for the Mercury just before the end of regulation. After a frenzied possession, she drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 79-all with 4.3 seconds to go.
Whitcomb said her countless hours practicing in the gym paid off with her game-tying shot at the end of regulation.
“It’s for these moments,” said Whitcomb, who hit just 5 of 13 field-goal attempts. “Obviously, I would love to shoot a better percentage. I would love to make all my shots, all of that. But I feel like it shows up in moments like that — in those big moments.”
Collier missed a last-second shot from the left elbow as time expired in regulation.
Phoenix took the lead on a jump shot by Thomas in the first minute of overtime, their first lead since the opening quarter. The Mercury increased the advantage to 85-79 when Kahleah Copper knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:47 to go.
The Lynx appeared headed for a 2-0 series lead after they took a 59-39 lead on Collier’s 3-pointer with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.
Sabally answered on the next possession with a 3-pointer from 23 feet. That started a determined comeback for Phoenix, which outscored Minnesota 57-35 in the second half and overtime.
Minnesota nearly staved off the comeback in the final few minutes of regulation. Williams brought Lynx fans to their feet with a driving layup that gave Minnesota a 77-72 lead with 1:55 on the clock.
Phoenix refused to go away. Sabally rebounded her own miss and put back a layup to cut the deficit to 77-74 with 46.8 seconds left.
After a five-second violation by the Lynx, Phoenix struck again. Thomas made a pull-up jump shot to cut the deficit to 77-76 with 25.5 seconds to go.
Williams calmly made a pair of free throws with 20.7 seconds left. That increased Minnesota’s lead to 79-76, setting the stage for Whitcomb’s tying shot.
–Field Level Media
