Mercury 79, Lynx 71: Camp Day Kids Too Much to Overcome

On Wednesday afternoon, with hundreds of summer camp kids in the building, the Lynx dropped just their third game of the season in Phoenix.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Lynx took on the Phoenix Mercury, looking for their WNBA-leading 18th win of the season and sixth in a row. It was “Camp Day” in Phoenix, meaning the game was well attended, mostly by large groups of summer camp kids.

The Lynx started the game off right with a 3-pointer by Kayla McBride off a pin-down screen from Napheesa Collier. After a jump shot from Bridget Carleton and a pair of makes from Courtney Williams, Minnesota found themselves up 9-2 early in the game.

The Lynx’s defense was outstanding early in the game, forcing the Mercury to miss seven of their first eight shots, including two turnovers during that stretch, holding Phoenix to just 6 points over the first six and a half minutes of the game.

Minnesota was unable to build a large lead during this time, largely due to its poor 3-point shooting. After the first make to start the game, the Lynx missed 11 consecutive shots from beyond the arc. They finished the first half going 2-14 from deep, with McBride having the only two made shots.

While the Mercury’s offense struggled in the first quarter, they were much more successful in the second quarter, going 10-18 from the field for 25 points in the frame, putting the Lynx down 40-37 at the half.

The Lynx’s defense made a return in the third quarter, holding the Mercury to only 12 points on 6-18 shooting. Williams continued her strong offensive game, putting up six points in the quarter to give her 18 for the game. Collier, after scoring just four first-half points, had eight points in the quarter.

The pair of Lynx All-Stars scored 14 of Minnesota’s 20 third-quarter points to turn what was at one point a six-point deficit into a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The start of the fourth quarter remained close with each team trading baskets throughout the first few minutes of the period. There were a couple of moments where it just seemed like things were going to go the Lynx’s way. The first was when Natisha Hideman banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Minnesota up by six.

Then, with less than six minutes left in the game, Williams hit an incredibly tough fadeaway 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Lynx up by seven points.

The Mercury didn’t go away there, though, as everything went wrong for the Lynx from that point forward. Phoenix was able to close the game on a 19-4 run to take the game by a final score of 79-71. The Lynx turned it over 8 times in the fourth quarter while making just two of their final eight shots.

Collier had a quiet game offensively by her standards, scoring 18 points to go along with seven rebounds. Williams led the way offensively for the Lynx, putting up 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Alyssa Thomas was phenomenal for the Mercury, leading them with 29 points, including six straight points late in the game that turned a tie game into a six-point Phoenix lead.

The loss was just the third on the season for Minnesota, who still have three fewer losses than Phoenix and the New York Liberty atop the standings.

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Up Next

The Lynx have their second back-to-back matchup of the season, as they face the Los Angeles Sparks tomorrow in another matinee game. The game begins at 2:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network.