MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Lynx are three wins shy of a fifth championship and chasing a league record with a starkly different core than the previous dynasty.

Napheesa Collier is in full charge of this group.

Collier had 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting and 11 rebounds and Courtney Williams contributed 24 points and energy on both ends of the court to lead the Minnesota Lynx past the Connecticut Sun 88-77 and into the. W.N.B.A Tuesday evening finals for the first time in seven years.

Necklace, the WNBA Defensive Player of the Yearfour blocks added in a vintage all-round performance.

“She has gotten better every season. She was just incredible. Every game is about more than scoring, how she helps our team,” said coach Cheryl Reeve. “If she plays like the MVP, we’ll be hard to beat.”

As soon as the final buzzer sounded and the arena roared, Collier walked over to Lindsay Whalen’s courtside seat and hugged the Hall of Famer and former Lynx star, who was the point guard on the first four championship teams.

“I definitely want to make her proud,” Collier said.

Kayla McBride had 10 of her 19 points in the first quarter for the Lynx, who advanced to top-seeded Freedom of New York in Game 1 on Thursday night. The best-of-five series continues Sunday afternoon with Game 2 in New York before Minnesota hosts Game 3 on Oct. 16.

The Lynx, who finished second in the league during the regular season and two games behind the Liberty, have won three of four games with New York this year. That also includes the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup on June 25 to take the season’s tournament title.

DiJonai Carrington had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Brionna Jones had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun, who shot just 38.5% from the floor (25 for 65) and were confused in 19 turnovers that the Lynx converted into 22 points.

“They just hit us in the face, we got shocked and couldn’t fight back,” said DeWanna Bonner, who had 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

The Sun were eliminated in the semi-finals for the fourth time in six years. They lost in the finals in those other two seasons, 2019 and 2022, when Williams was part of the core that still hasn’t cleared the final hurdle for the franchise’s first title.

Williams, who is in her first year at Minnesota, was on a mission to get there from tip-off. The fiery ninth-year point guard was the catalyst on both ends of the floor, attacking the basket, pushing the tempo on the break and harassing Connecticut’s ballhandlers. Williams had her most points in a playoff game since 2019, adding seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.

In the first half they were 6 against 6.

“When you go into a game like that, you know the hoop feels big, you have a super green light,” Williams said. “I think that’s the confidence that Cheryl gives us.”

The Lynx built a lead of as many as 21 points in the second quarter, six more than their largest of any of the first four games. They had a slow start to the second half, which was dampened by the Sun’s cold shooting, before Alanna Smith made a three-pointer to end a 4:22 scoreless skid.

Then Williams swiped the ball away from Bonner as she drove to the basket and raced the other way for a layup and a 58-41 lead. Collier drained a 3-pointer to cap that 12-0 run.

Connecticut eliminated Minnesota here last season in the decisive Game 3 of the first round. Since winning Game 5 of the WNBA Finals in 2017 for their fourth championship in seven years, the Lynx are just 1-4 in winner-take-all games in the playoffs.

The atmosphere at Target Center matched the moment, with a raucous crowd that included Whalen, Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones and two members of the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Angie Craig and Sen. Tina Smith.

Collier, who averaged 40 points in the two-game sweep of the Phoenix Mercury in the first round and had 29 points and 13 rebounds at Connecticut in Game 4, was her usual cool self with the confidence and determination of a star who made her chasing its first championship. .

“She’s just the combination of everything you want in a player, but I think what makes her so special, aside from the obvious skills, is that she doesn’t rush things,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “She stays so poised no matter what, and you can tell the rest of her team feeds off that.”

Alyssa Thomas had seven points and six assists for the Sun, who trailed by double digits all but 12 of the final three quarters. Marina Mabrey, coming off the bench for the second straight game, hurt her ankle in the first half on an awkward step near a photographer on the baseline and was limited to 14 minutes.

“She’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever been around,” White said. “She tried to give it a try, but it just didn’t work out.”

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