Mercury and Lynx meet in the desert for Game 3

Phoenix dropped Game 1, 82-69, as Minnesota held them to 22 points for the entire second half on Sept. 21. The Mercury bounced back in a big way on Tuesday, coming back down 20 points to take an 89-83 win in overtime against the Lynx.

Satou Sabally led the scoring for Phoenix with 24 points and made five 3-pointers in the win. Sami Whitcomb also contributed off the bench with 13 points and a critical 3-pointer with less than four seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts credited Whitcomb for her last play in regulation, saying it wasn’t what he drew up going into the final seconds.

“They had a foul to give, I drew up two plays [and] I messed that up,” he said post-game. “I wanted to get it in because I thought they were going to foul and then run the first one. But we ended up running the second one, but we didn’t run it right… That one was completely on me. [Whitcomb] saved my ass.”

For Minnesota, the pressure now shifts to the road as the team looks to bounce back from its late-game collapse in Game 2.

“The lack of execution led us to the uncertainty,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said post-game on what led to the collapse. “All of a sudden, they’re looking around, they had a bunch of oh s— looks. So, execution, simple things, pass and catch. Just be able to dribble the ball and get it to us. We were throwing it out of bounds. Phoenix certainly was a good part defensively… that’s what led to that.”

With the series heading to Phoenix, both teams will battle for control in this semifinal series to punch their ticket to the Finals.

The Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx meet for Game 3 on Friday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m.