Napheesa Collier scored 26 points and the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-81 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series on Friday night.

Game 4 takes place on Sunday in Connecticut, with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended with Minnesota’s fourth championship in seven years. Game 5 would be played Tuesday night in Minnesota if necessary.

Collier, who averaged just 14 points in the first two games of the series, had 16 points in the first half of Game 3. The runner-up for league MVP was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven points after one quarter and 48-36 at halftime thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the first 20 minutes.

The Sun tried to rally and cut the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that’s all they could achieve.

DeWanna Bonner moved into second place on the WNBA career postseason scoring list in the third quarter. She overtook Candace Parker, who reached 1,149 in her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159 points and is ahead of Parker by making a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Diana Taurasi is at the top with 1,455.

Brionna Jones, who had just eight points in the first two games combined, led Connecticut with 21. Bonner added 16. All five Sun starters scored in double figures, but they had little to contribute off the bench. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.

The first two games saw discord between teams who prided themselves on their physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams of the regular season – the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game and the Lynx 75.6.

There were hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn’t much of that at all in Game 3.

There was also a lot of nonsense on the court, particularly between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The two were teammates in Chicago last year and say it’s all fun on the court and there’s no bad blood between them.

The Lynx have a chance to win the series on Sunday in Connecticut.