As Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, Collier has the ability to predict what she’s going to get and how she’s going to get it every game.

“She’s like an amoeba,” Reeve said. “When she’s in the paint, she’s going to screen, roll. When the paint is tougher, she knows how to move, how to get to the perimeter. She finds different ways to impact the game.”

As Collier rose to a new level, a historic career may be coming to an end. Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, the league’s all-time leading scorer, has hinted that this, her 20th season, could be her last. She was subbed off late in the game to a standing ovation from the crowd of 8,769. Taurasi (10 points) was one of five Mercury players in double figures, including 24 by Brittney Griner. Those two, and Collier, played for Reeve at the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic Games in Paris last summer.

But Wednesday belonged to Collier. Reeve doesn’t keep individual scores during games. But there was a moment late in the first half when she looked at the scoreboard and saw that Collier had 23 first-half points. “I thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good,'” Reeve said.

And she had only just begun.

Before the game, Reeve warned her team that Collier probably wouldn’t reach the 38 points she had in Game 1. When Collier was finally substituted with 58.3 seconds left, she told Reeve, “Coach, you were right.”