THE Minnesota lynx returned to the semi-finals.
The seeded n ° 1 lynx fell from a deficit of 17 points to beat the Golden State Valkyries,, 75-74On Wednesday at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
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“It was (a) a difficult game, closing games are still as difficult, especially in an environment like this,” said Napheesa Collier, a candidate for the Lynx MVP, Napheesa.
The lynx will wait for his opponent. THE Phoenix Mercury Wednesday joined the Seattle storm And Indiana fever By forcing matches 3 by completely focusing on title champion New York Liberty, 86-60at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
It was the first victory of the Mercury playoffs since the WNBA final 2021. It was the greatest defeat of the Liberty at home in their playoff history and the largest victory on the Mercury road in the face of the elimination of the playoffs.
Match 3 will take place on Friday in Phoenix at the PHX Center (9 p.m. He, ESPN2). Freedom knows that they must make changes if they want to move forward in the semi-finals and continue their title.
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“We cannot go out and play in the same way as us and expect a different result,” said Sabrina Ionescu, goalkeeper of Liberty. “We have to go out and make the adjustments and play as if our season was at stake, because it is.”
More: Lynx Claw in return from the 17-point deficit, beat Valkyries to go to the WNBA semi-finals
More: Mercury vs Liberty Wnba Playoffs Updated live: score, strengths of the game 2
Winners
Big 3 by Phoenix Mercury
The Mercury did not panic after their disappointing defeat of match 1 against freedom. Instead, Phoenix prepared for a battle in New York. “The state of mind is … Go to New York and get it,” said Kahleah Copper on Sunday. This is exactly what the mercury did. Phoenix not only avoided elimination, but she dominated the title champions.
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The Big 3 du Mercury d’Alyssa Thomas (15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), Sutou Sabally (15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 interceptions) and copper (14 points, 2 rebounds) took care of. The trio of stars set the tone early and involved all of his teammates. Mercury is 14-0 this season when their 3 major scores of 10 points or more each. There were perhaps questions about the future of Phoenix after the end of the Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner era, but the new programming has the victory of Mercury One far from their first appearance in the semi-finals since 2021.
Phoenix Mercury Unicorn Sutou Sabally
The Mercury Satou Sabally striker achieved his worst shooting performance of the season during a defeat of match 1 against freedom on Sunday, going 2 out of 17 on the field and 1 in 10 of 3 at home. Sabally said she had watched the film and had had a good shooting attempts, despite the end result. “I am a great player and I know it. This game was not who I am, ”she said. Sabally came out aggressive and pulled 5 for 11 and 2 for 4 on Wednesday, ending with 15 points in the victory. “We haven’t finished yet,” said Sabally after the victory.
Resilient minnesota lynx
The Lynxs are the first and the only team to qualify for the semi-finals in two games after all the other series of first-round qualifying series went to match 3. It was not an easy feat because the lynx was decreasing 17 points in a rowdy road environment. The Minnesota could easily have thrown in the towel and impatiently waiting for match 3 at home, but the lynx looked at their experience in the return victory. “I asked them not to stop,” said Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve. The lynx now has three days of rest before their semi-final series against Mercury or Liberty, which begins on Sunday.
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First season of Golden State Valkyries
After the Valkyries suffered a defeat from a point against the lynx on Wednesday, and the Cinderella season of Golden State ended, the closed stripes of the Sap Center of San Jose was held and categorically sang the “GSV”. It was an astonishing demonstration of support and highlighted the inaugural season of the expansion team, despite a rapid release of the playoffs. Year coach Wnba Natalie Nakase Led the Valkyries to an offer in the playoffs, becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season. The Valkyries brought back the head No. 1 over the course of match 2 and were a boost away from their first victory in the playoff series.
Golden State also sold each of their 22 regular season games at the Chase Center and established a WNBA attendance record, welcoming 397,408 fans in total and an average attendance of 18,064 this season. This is only the start of the Valkyries.
0-1 teams
Three of the four teams confronted with the elimination in the first round of the WNBA qualifiers forced a decisive match 3. Indiana fever launched things with a dismantling of 77-60 of the Atlanta dream on Tuesday, followed by the Seattle Storm victories sequence of Seattle. The Phoenix Mercury continued the trend on Wednesday with a rout of 86-60 of the Liberty reigning champion. THE Golden State Valkyries Almost forced a match 3 against the Lynx of Minnesota, leader of the League, but finally suffered a defeat from a point.
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Before the WNBA 2025 playoff series, there were three games 3 in the first round in more than four years of this format. Now, WNBA fans will be entitled to three games 3 of Thursday and Friday alone.
Losers
Everything about New York freedom
The reigning champion New York Liberty looked … well, battable. Freedom was held at 60 points, their second total total of the season, in Wednesday’s defeat. After scoring 10 goals on the field in the first quarter, the Liberty had nine the rest of the match. New York pulled a season at 30.2% in the field, 23.1% of the line of 3 points and 16 out of 25 of the Launarae francs.
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Liberty coach Sandy Brondello had seen enough in the fourth quarter and pulled the majority of his starters, essentially waving the white flag. None of New York’s beginners marked two figures. Freedom has wasted its chance to close the mercury on their land. New York has not only to travel the cross-country in Phoenix (once again), he gave his opponent a lot of confidence before match 3. To worsen things, the Lynx of Minnesota closed the Valkyries and will be rested for the winner of this series.
New York Liberty Sabrina Ionescu Guard
Ionescu was not a factor in match 2. It was 3 out of 13 on the field and 1 out of 8 of the 3 -point line. To add the insult to the injury, Ionescu was 2 out of 6 of the free throw line. Upon entering on Wednesday, Ionescu had not lacked more than two free throws in a single match in his career. Ionescu draws 93.3% from the launcher line this season and 91.3% throughout his career.
“We cannot go out and play in the same way as us and expect a different result,” said Ionescu. “We have to go out and make the adjustments and play as if our season was at stake, because it is.”
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Barclays Center
The Barclays Center caught several wanders in the post-match of Mercury on Wednesday. After the Mercury’s victory over freedom, Kahleah Copper and Sutou Sabond both mentioned how calm was in the Liberty arena. “I did not think it was strong to start. I was shocked. I expected what we had to face the crowd and the people of the court, but it was calm,” said Copper. Sabally added that Phx Arena will be “stronger than” New York when the series will return to Phoenix for a decisive match 3. To be fair, freedom has not given much to their fans to encourage, but it remains to be seen if these comments will serve as Babillard equipment. Sorry, Spike Lee.
Breanna Stewart’s knee
Breanna Stewart chose to play through a MCL sprain his left knee, but the New York Liberty striker looked like a shell of herself. It was held at six points in 20 minutes, pulling 2 out of 6 in the field and 0 on 1 from the 3 -point line. It is an unfortunate development for Stewart, which previously missed 13 regular season games with bone bone with a right knee. There are questions surrounding Stewart’s health and the Liberty’s ability to challenge mercury without it at full power.
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1-0 teams
Aside from Minnesota Lynx, three teams failed the fence of their opponent in the first round.
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This article originally appeared on USA Today: 2025 Winner of WNBA qualifiers, losers: Lynx Advance, Liberty Crowd Mute
