Lynx 101, Valkyries 72: Blowout in Game 1

With the WNBA regular season behind us, postseason play is here.

The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx opened up playoff action with a matchup against the eighth-seeded Golden State Valkyries, with both teams fighting for the first to two wins in a best-of-three series.

Game 1 of the opening round tipped off Sunday afternoon at Target Center in front of a packed towel-waving crowd of Lynx fans, and the team they showed up to support gave them a reason to cheer on their way out of the arena.

The Lynx stepped on the gas in the second half, once again taking down Golden State and grabbing an early advantage in the series behind a 101-72 blowout victory.

With the win, Minnesota takes a 1-0 series lead with the series now shifting to San Jose for Game 2 on Wednesday at 9PM CT.

To start Sunday’s Game 1, Golden State came out of the gate firing from deep to quiet the Target Center crowd and jump ahead early. The Valkyries connected on five threes in the opening 10 minutes, at one point leading by as much as 10 points to take a 28-21 advantage through one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, however, the Lynx responded and settled down to take control of the game. Minnesota, led by Kayla McBride and Napheesa Collier each finishing the first half in double figure in scoring, outscored Golden State 26-12 in the second frame to lead by as much as 10 points and carry a 47-40 into the break.

From that point on Minnesota didn’t look back.

To open the second half, the Lynx carried the momentum from the end of the first half and stepped on the gas over the final two quarters.

Minnesota came out of halftime rolling, extending its lead to as much as 21 points in the third quarter to quickly take things out of reach and end up coasting in the final 10 minutes to the first victory — a comfortable one — of the postseason. The Lynx went on to outscore the Valkyries 32-18 in the third quarter and 22-14 in the final frame.

Leading the way for Minnesota in the game was the two-headed monster of Collier and McBride. Collier posted a team-best 20 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and one steal in 26 minutes. McBride followed her with 17 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal over 26 minutes.

Behind them, the StudBudz showed out, with Natisha Hiedeman lead the bench — which outscored Golden State’s bench 42-17 — with 18 points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal over 27 minutes. Courtney Williams brought the energy as she always does and had a nice second half to give her 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Jessica Shepard also stepped up and performed well off the bench, tallying 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Coming into the game, the one question we all had was if DiJonai Carrington would return after missing the final few games of the regular season with a left shoulder injury.

Leading up to Sunday’s Game 1, Carrington was listed as probable for Game 1, only to be announced as available prior to tip-off.

After not playing in the first half, Carrington stepped onto the court for the first time with 5:01 left in the third quarter, providing a nice lift on both ends like we’ve seen from her since her arrival to Minnesota, including hitting her first two shots — both threes — to round out the third quarter.

Over 12 minutes off the bench, Carrington ended with six points, two assists and a steal in her return.

First Round Schedule

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