Lynx defeat Liberty, 100-93 in rematch of 2024 WNBA Finals

As Rebekkah Brunson remarked, and Cheryl Reeve concurred, any pregame pep talk Wednesday was futile. All the Lynx had to do was mentally rewind to nine months ago — that is, if the image wasn’t already burned into their corneas.

“The last time we saw each other they were, you know, in confetti,” Reeve said, “and we were not.”

What more was there to say? Very little, Reeve suggested, especially after the Lynx had just suffered their first regular-season home loss to the Dream on Sunday. The parting message to the Lynx before tip-off was, more or less: “We already know.”

Enough said.

Behind Napheesa Collier’s 30 points, the Lynx (23-5) toppled the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty 100-93 on Wednesday night at Target Center.

Kayla McBride added 24 points, while Courtney Williams tallied 13 assists, tying a career-high. Sabrina Ionescu finished with a game-high 31 points for the Liberty.

The loss extends New York’s skid to three games since Saturday, which saw two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart go down. She was still sidelined Wednesday with a right knee bone bruise. Stewart was one of four Liberty players who sat out — five if you include Emma Meesseman, who just joined the team but was unavailable against the Lynx.

Forward Jessica Shepard scored six points in an 11-4 Lynx run to close the first quarter, erasing an eight-point deficit.

With the score knotted at 24 to start the second, McBride went on a personal 5-0 run — a floater followed by a three in less than a minute — to put the Lynx up by five.

Then came the first big blow: With the lead already at six, Bridget Carleton slowed things down and initiated a handoff sequence. The Lynx kicked around the ball and found the league’s leading scorer wide open beyond the arc.

Collier drained the triple, turned her head to the ceiling and let out a roar. Her shot put Minnesota up 50-41 at the break. Williams had tallied eight assists at that point, but was scoreless.

That didn’t last long.

With more of the Lynx clicking, Minnesota continued to pull away. A McBride triple late in the third put the Lynx up by 13 points.

The Liberty responded with a 7-0 run to end the quarter. An Isabelle Harrison layup, Ionescu heat-check triple and Leonie Fiebich fast break cut the deficit to six entering the fourth quarter.

Just as the Liberty found their groove, Natisha Hiedeman went on a tear. She hit back-to-back threes, followed by a layup to put the Lynx ahead by 11 with just under eight minutes to play.

The Liberty called a timeout. Hiedeman ran to the bench, finding Williams for a chest bump. She screamed, “That’s what I’m talking about!”

Carleton soon added two triples of her own, the second of which put the Lynx up by a game-high 15 points.

“She just continues to do everything we possibly could ask for,” McBride said, “and then some — and with such grace. MVP, for sure."

Sure enough, “MVPhee” chants broke out after Collier’s late basket, later morphing into “Our house!” cheers.

“It just feels like two really good teams going against each other,” Collier said. “I thought that’s what it looked like tonight — really fun to watch, I hope, for other people."

Safe to say fans — several of whom sported “Stewart walked” shirts — enjoyed it.