Minnesota Lynx remain perfect in 2025 after rallying past the Connecticut Sun

With a little more than five minutes remaining Friday night at Target Center, the Lynx and their perfect record were on the brink. Facing a winless Connecticut Sun, the Lynx stared down a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Then, a defensive light bulb — Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said she had seen barely a flicker to that point — turned bright. With it came an offensive onslaught spearheaded by forward Napheesa Collier.

“Of those 40 minutes, we played five of them defensively,” Reeve said. “We had some solid stretches, but not enough to do the dictating. If the last five minutes is that light bulb, that would be great.”

In the matchup of an unbeaten squad and a team vying to win for the first time in 2025, the Lynx won 76-70. The result made the Lynx 4-0, their best start to a season since 2017, when they opened 9-0 en route to the WNBA title.

The Lynx trailed 68-53 with 5:20 remaining, meaning they ended the game on a 23-2 run.

“We were down by a lot, [but] we just had to chip away,” guard Natasha Hiedeman said. “We all just believe in each other, and we’ve been in situations like this before. We knew it wasn’t over until the buzzer rang, so [we] just kept fighting and fighting.”

The Lynx outscored the Sun 27-15 in the fourth quarter. Collier commanded attention throughout the game, scoring a 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting. Ten of her points came in the final 5:20, and she also snagged 11 rebounds in the game. Reeve said her success was all the more impressive given the “terrible whistle” Collier received from the referees Friday.

Forward Jessica Shepard suggested the game marked an “MV-Phee” moment. Collier is averaging 29.5 points this season, tops in the WNBA.

“She’s the most consistent player in the league,” Shepard said. “Every night, you know what you’re going to get from her. Our team was really struggling tonight, and she kept putting the ball in the basket when we needed baskets. Without her today, it’s a rough basketball game.”

Collier’s performance occurred amid a rough shooting night for several of the home team’s complementary scorers. Guard Courtney Williams went 0-for-11, forward Bridget Carleton 2-for-11.

As has been the early-season trend, shown Wednesday when the Lynx trailed Dallas 15-5 in what became an 85-81 victory, the Lynx appeared flat off the tipoff. This time, though, their lull lasted far longer, and the Lynx faced their first halftime deficit of the young season, 45-35.

BOXSCORE: Lynx 76, Connecticut 70

WNBA standings

Connecticut took its lead thanks to three-point shooting, going 8-for-14 on threes in the first half. Sun guard Marina Mabrey and forward Haley Peters each had 10 points in the first half. Mabrey, who made three first-half three-pointers, dished out six assists as she played all 20 first-half minutes.

“We just didn’t have a way about us that demonstrated a sense of urgency and being hard to play against,” Reeve said. “Playing with pace, fly up the floor, get into your action quick; for whatever reason that was absent.”

The Lynx cut the deficit to seven points ahead of the final quarter, but it soon returned to double digits. Through it all, Collier said her team’s belief never wavered.

“We’ve always been really resilient, even when we’re down,” Collier said. “We’re down 15 with five minutes left. That’s not an easy thing to overcome, but I never thought we were going to lose, discombobulate or point the finger.

“We just went out there and said, ‘We have to get a stop, we need to cut it by this time, we need to get deflections, need to get kills.’ ”

As the game clock ticked under two minutes, Collier hit a pair of free throws to tie the score 68-68. Then Hiedeman drained a deep three-pointer, handing the Lynx their first lead of the game and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

In a blink, a deficit that had an insurmountable feel evaporated, and the Lynx put the finishing touches on another close affair.