It’s no secret that when the Connecticut Sun win games, it’s because of their defense.

That was certainly true Tuesday, when they held New York to 36.4 percent shooting during an 82-63 home win, keeping the Liberty nearly 17 points under their per-game average.

It will have to be true Friday night if they’re to earn a win over the desperate Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis.

Connecticut coach Curt Miller was happy with his team’s work on the defensive end against New York, which earlier this month canned 18 3-pointers in a win over Las Vegas and tallied a league-record 73 points in the second half of another game against the Aces.

“I felt even when they made shots and made runs, we were in plays which we weren’t against them last time,” Miller said. “And we flew around and we played really hard and it all started with post pressure. We held that team to under 40 percent for the game, which is an accomplishment.”

The Sun (17-9) got 21 points from Brionna Jones, plus 18 points and 13 rebounds from Alyssa Thomas. Off the bench, DiJonai Carrington supplied 18 points in just 18 minutes, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Minnesota (10-17) hasn’t played since Sunday, when it absorbed a 70-57 loss at Washington in which it made just 22 of 66 shots from the field. Kayla McBride and Aerial Powers scored 16 and 11 points, respectively, but needed a combined 35 attempts to get there.

The Lynx are two games behind Los Angeles and Dallas for the final playoff spot and have also played two more games than either team.

There is good news for the Lynx. Forward Napheesa Collier practiced on Wednesday for the first time since giving birth to her first child nearly two months ago. A former WNBA Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star, Collier hopes to join the retiring Sylvia Fowles up front before the season ends.

“I see maybe spot situations, possibly, for her,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said.

–Field Level Media