Napheesa Collier added 42 to tie a WNBA playoff record for points in a game as the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury 101-88 on Wednesday night.
The Minnesota Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury 101-88 on Wednesday night as Napheesa Collier scored 42 to tie the WNBA playoff record for points in a game.
Collier matched the 42-point record held by Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry when she sank 1 of 2 free throws with 3:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. One of just two misfires from the free-throw line in 14 attempts, Collier was removed from the game with 58.3 seconds left.
One UConn legend prepares for a final farewell, while the other is in his first season. Diana Taurasi hasn’t discussed her possible retirement after 20 seasons in the WNBA, but if Wednesday was her last game, she went out at the hands of another UConn player, one whose legacy is only beginning.
Napheesa Collier led the No. 2 Lynx past the No. 7 Mercury with a 42-point performance in a 101-88 Game 2 first-round series victory. One day earlier Collier spoke of playing with and against Taurasi.
“It’s like it’s her retirement tour,” Collier said. “I don’t know. She’s been pretty quiet about it. But, she’s obviously a UConn great, a league GOAT”.
“So, I am pretty fortunate to get to play with her on Team USA and against her and hopefully end her career tomorrow”.With that last sentence, a sly smile spread onto Collier’s face. She was joking. well, sort of.
The forward would do anything to win Game 2 at all costs rather than go to Phoenix for a deciding Game 3, and the forward did everything she could to make that happen. In the sweep, Collier managed to total 80 points, which is more than any player has scored in a two-game playoff stretch. At 42, her points also tied the postseason record for most points in a game.
And yet, as Collier tallied the box score of the game, there was only one conclusion she could come to.
I should have made my free throws,” she said, with that same sly smile.
Collier shot 12-for-14 from the free-throw line. One additional made free throw would have been enough to break the single-game scoring record, but head coach Cheryl Reeve didn’t let her star get away scot-free in acknowledging the greatness of her series performance.
“She tied the single-game record, but she’s got the two-game record”, says Reeve. “So she’s first in that”.
