Napheesa Collier scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures and the Minnesota Lynx breezed to a 101-72 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round WNBA series.
Collier hit 7 of 11 shots with a 3-pointer and all five of her free throws, adding six rebounds.
The Lynx blew the game open in the third quarter, and it was taking a usual strength of the Valkyries, three point shooting, and using it to their advantage.
"Each team is trying to make choices about what you can live with and a lot of time our three-point shooting leads you to that choice, and we were effective at taking what was being given to us," said head coach Cheryl Reeve. "You know, it's a dilemma, and we have the same dilemma for them. That's why they had a 28 point first quarter and, I mean, that's largely what led to our success in there."
Natisha Hiedeman made two 3-pointers and scored 18 for the Lynx, while Kayla McBride added 17 hitting 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Jessica Shepard had 12 points and eight rebounds and Courtney Williams pitched in with 11 points and four steals.
Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini both scored 14 to lead Golden State. Burton added seven assists and three steals but also had seven of the Valkyries' 16 turnovers. Janelle Salaün had 13 points and eight rebounds and Temi Fágbénlé scored 12 before fouling out.
Burton hit two 3-pointers for Golden State in an 11-4 run to start the game and the Valkyries led 28-21 after one quarter.
McBride had two baskets in a 12-3 run to begin the second period and Minnesota moved in front 33-31. McBride had 14 points by halftime and Collier scored 11 for a 47-39 lead.
Alanna Smith hit a 3-pointer with 8:47 left in the third quarter for a 52-42 advantage and Minnesota led by double digits the rest of the way. DiJonai Carrington sank two 3-pointers and Williams hit one in the final 70 seconds as the Lynx took a 79-58 lead into the final period.
The Valkyries are still looking for their first win over the Lynx in their first year in the league after losing all four regular-season matchups — three by double digits. But the Lynx are not taking them lightly.
"No one on this team thinks that this is gonna be an easy game by any means," Collier explained. "We know it's gonna be a fight. They all work really, really hard. That's been a staple of their team this entire season and their home crowd is really great, so it's gonna be a really tough game and we have to make sure that we come with our A game, especially on defense."
It was also an historic with for Reeve. The Lynx coach became the all-time winningest in the history of the WNBA. Sunday's playoff win was the 414th of her career (regular season and postseason combined). She surpassed Mike Thibault, who amassed 413 total wins for his career after being the head coach of multiple championship-winning Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics.
Minnesota's 34-10 record led the league. Golden State will host Game 2 on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.