Minneapolis — Nafeesa Collier scored 31 points and Kayla McBride had eight of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Minnesota Lynx secure a playoff berth with a 90-80 win over Kaitlyn Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday night.
Minnesota (22-8), which beat the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces 87-74 on Friday, has won six straight games since returning from the Olympic break, including five straight double-digit victories.
Clark, the No. 1 pick in the draft, led Indiana (13-16) with 23 points and eight assists, becoming the fastest player in league history to reach 500 points (520) and 200 assists (240) in 29 games.
Bridget Carlton hit a 3-pointer to give the Rins a 10-point lead with 7:49 left, and Lexi Hull made two layups around a 3-pointer to cut Indiana’s lead to 72-69 with 6:16 left.
McBride responded with a jumper and then added two 3-pointers to cap a 14-2 run that extended the lead to 15 with 3:23 left.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points for the Fever. Aliyah Boston added 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Carleton hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points for Minnesota. Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman each added 10 points.
The Lynx hosted a No. 23 jersey retirement ceremony for Maya Moore Irons immediately following the game, with a record crowd of over 19,000 at Target Center. She joined Seimone Augustus (No. 33), Rebekkah Brunson (No. 32), Sylvia Fowles (No. 34) and Lindsay Whalen (No. 13) as the only players in franchise history to receive the honor.
Moore Irons — Clark’s favorite player growing up — helped the Lynx win four WNBA championships. She was named MVP in 2014 and Finals MVP in 2013. Moore Irons, the 2011 Rookie of the Year from UConn, is a six-time All-Star and three-time All-Star Game MVP.
Moore, 35, played her last WNBA game in 2018. She worked to free Jonathan Irons, who was convicted of robbery and assault in 2020. She and Irons are married and have a son while working at Win for Justice.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
