UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Kayla McBride hit four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Lindsay Allen added 16 points and six assists, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 87-83 on Sunday.
Aerial Powers scored 14 points, Jessica Shepard had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Dorka Juhász added 11 points for the Lynx.
Minnesota (13-13) has won three games in a row — including an 88-83 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading New York Liberty on Friday. Connecticut (18-7), which had its three-game win streak snapped, is a half-game behind New York in the standings.
Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists — her fourth triple-double of the season — for the Sun. DeWanna Bonner scored 31 points and DiJonai Carrington 11.
Bonner made a layup to get Connecticut within a point before McBride made 1 of 2 from the free throw line to make it 85-83 with 11.1 seconds to go. Juhász blocked a potential go-ahead 3 by Bonner before Shepard made two foul shots to cap the scoring.
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota's leader with 21.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, missed her second consecutive game with an ankle injury. Rachel Banham (thumb) and Emily Engstler (shoulder) — who signed a seven-day contract with the Lynx on Friday and then left their win over New York later the same night following a collision with the Liberty's Kayla Thornton while diving for a loose ball — did not play.
McBride made back-to-back 3s before Jessica Shepard scored Minnesota's final six points in a 12-3 run that gave the Lynx a nine-point lead with 9.4 seconds left in the third quarter. Natisha Hiedeman hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Sun's deficit to 68-62 going into the fourth.
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