As Game 2 vs. Phoenix approaches, meet the Lynx closer, Masha Kliundikova

Courtney Williams had put together a 23-point, 5-steal game. Napheesa Collier nearly notched a double-double. But postgame, after the Lynx’s 82-69 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals, it wasn’t either of those players who had the locker room buzzing.

Instead, it was Minnesota’s closer, Maria Kliundikova.

“Man, if you would have heard us in the locker room,” Williams said afterward. “We know what she can do out there.”

Now Phoenix does, too.

Kliundikova, third off the Lynx bench, played eight of the game’s final 10 minutes as Minnesota outscored the Mercury 23-10 in the fourth quarter. The 6-4 Russian center, also known as Masha, scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, snagged two steals and won a key jump ball, her length helping stifle Mercury star Alyssa Thomas.

“When you’re sitting most of the game and you got to come in and make that instant impact, you just got to be mentally strong,” Williams said, “and that’s exactly what she is.”

Kliundikova had played only four minutes in Minnesota’s first-round sweep of Golden State, and had yet to come off the bench against Phoenix, when head coach Cheryl Reeve motioned for her to sub in. The Lynx lineup needed more rebounding reinforcements, and Reeve wanted to give Collier a few minutes of rest.

Eight undefeated games into this season, Lynx signed Kliundikova after she was waived by the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks had drafted Kliundikova in 2018, and she played in Los Angeles for two years before heading back to play in Russia, where she got her start as a pro while just a teenager.

There, she racked up national team and EuroLeague championship experience before returning to Sparks training camp this year and, eventually, finding a new team in Minnesota.

“I had semifinals and playoff game overseas, and I know it’s like, every player needs focus. It doesn’t matter if you sit on a bench or play, we need to just focus,” Kliundikova said.

In the regular season, Kliundikova averaged 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 11 minutes per game, and earned one start while Collier was out with a back injury.

Kliundikova has been a sizable addition — both in impact and height — to a deep Lynx bench, which includes Natisha Hiedeman and Jessica Shepard, who both earned Sixth Player of the Year votes, and guard DiJonai Carrington, ruled out for the rest of the season on Saturday with a left foot sprain.

Her Game 1 plus-minus of +14 was second on the Lynx, behind only Bridget Carleton.