MINNEAPOLIS — Napheesa Collier had 15 points and 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx made 14 3-pointers, suffering their second straight loss with an 84-67 victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday.
The Lynx jumped out of a tie with an 11-0 run late in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers, then went on a 6-2 run to start the fourth quarter and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Alanna Smith also added 15 points for Minnesota (3-1).
Kayla McBride finished with 14 points on four 3-pointers, including two that came after New York tied the game at 55-55 late in the third quarter. The Liberty made 14 of 28 3-pointers.
Bridget Carlton, starting in place of Diamond Miller, also scored 14 points. Minnesota announced Friday that Miller is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
Breanna Stewart had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Liberty (2-4), but the team made 7 of 29 3-pointers and only nine in the fourth quarter. Sabrina Ionescu scored 13 points and Courtney VanderSloot had 12, but the other two starters, Jonquel Jones and Betonia Rainey-Hamilton, each had four points. Leonie Fiebic came off the bench to score 11 points on 3 of 5 3-pointers.
Minnesota made 7 of 11 3-pointers in the first quarter, including two from Cecilia Zandarasini just three minutes after coming off the bench, to take a 31-17 lead.
A Smith 3-pointer extended Minnesota’s lead to 38-17, but Stewart’s basket in the lane with 5:58 to play ended Liberty’s nearly seven-and-a-half-minute field goal drought and put the score at 44-40 at halftime.
Ionescu scored to tie the score at 52-52 for Liberty, then Smith scored to give the Lynx a 66-55 lead. Liberty’s Fievich hit a 3-pointer late to make it 66-58 going into the fourth quarter.
