Final: Minnesota Lynx 82 Phoenix Mercury 77

The Phoenix Mercury needed to beat the Minnesota Lynx in order to advance to the WNBA Finals and lost 82-77.

It was a back and forth game. The Phoenix Mercury took over in the first leading the Lynx 29-6 as they closed out the quarter. Minnesota Lynx came back into the game in the second quarter but still couldn’t outscore the Phoenix Mercury shutting the half down in Mercury’s favor, 44-36.

The 15 minute break at halftime proved to be the Lynx’s “energizer” as they took the lead and forced the Mercury to step up their defensive game. Minnesota ran away with the game and Maya Moore woke up just in time to take advantage. At the end of the third the Lynx were up 62-56.

Maya Moore lead the scoring with 32 points and became Minnesota’s best asset on the floor. Griner struggled to match up against the “on fire” Moore. She closed out the game with 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

Brittney Griner had 14 points and 3 rebounds and racked up a technical foul. Diana Taurasi led the Phoenix Mercury in scoring with 23 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx will reconvene on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 7 pm. It will be the game to watch and we can’t wait to see the Phoenix Mercury move on to the finals!

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