September 16 — LOCATION — Mohegan Sun Arena
Tip: 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Boston)
Probable starters: Lynx, 6-1 F Bridget Carleton (9.6 points per game), 6-4 F Alanna Smith (10.3 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, 3.2 assists per game), 6-1 F Napheesa Necklace (20.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game), 5-11 G Kayla McBride (15.1 points per game, 3.3 assists per game), 5 to 8 G Courtney Williams (11.3 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists per game).
Sun5-10 G Ty Harris (10.4 ppg, 3.0 apg), 5-11 G DiJonai Carrington (12.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg), 6-4 G DeWanna Bonner (15.3 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, 2 assists per game), 6-2 F Alyssa Thomas (10.3 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, 7.9 assists per game), 6-3 F Brionna Jones (14.1 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game).
Note: The final week of the regular season will decide the seeds for the upcoming WNBA playoffs, with the Sun (27-11) most likely to land in third place. Minnesota (29-9) sits in second place, with a two-game lead over the Sun and is expected to lose both games this week and have Connecticut win both for the Sun to take second place. The current standings have New York first (31-7), followed by Minnesota, Connecticut, Las Vegas (25-13), Seattle (24-14), Indiana (20-19) and Phoenix (18-20). The eighth and final place is up for grabs among Washington, Chicago And Atlantaall 13-25. If the Sun stays in third place, they will meet Indiana and the rookie phenom Caitlin Clarkwho are locked in at No. 6, in a best-of-three series that begins Sunday at Mohegan Sun, with Game 2 on Tuesday or Wednesday. … Connecticut is 2-0 against Minnesota this season, winning 83-82 in overtime on May 3 at Connecticut and 78-73 on July 4 at Minnesota. In the July 4 game, Bonner led the way with 24 points for Connecticut and Thomas had a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. … The Sun are coming off Sunday’s 84-71 loss at Las Vegas, with Marina Mabrey She led the charge off the bench with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Jones scored 17 points for the Sun, her seventh straight game with at least 17 points. Harris scored 16 points and is averaging 14.0 points over the last two games. “I’m going to continue to work on us,” Harris, the Sun’s point guard, said of what next week will look like for Connecticut. “… You want to be at your best going into the playoffs, so this is a wake-up call (against Las Vegas). We can learn from this game. We have another game on Tuesday, so we’ll bounce back then.” … The Lynx are coming off an 88-79 win Sunday against New York, with 18 points and 13 rebounds from Collier, the former UConn All-American.
—Vickie Fulkerson
