Sports
Reusse: Lynx have only themselves to blame for Game 3 loss
Head coach Cheryl Reeve went ballistic, and star Napheesa Collier struggled before getting hurt. History says recovering will be difficult.
By Patrick Reusse
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 27, 2025 at 3:00PM
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve could be suspended by the WNBA after getting two technical fouls Friday night in Phoenix. (Ross D. Franklin/The Associated Press)
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Outstanding coach, most everyone agrees. And all-time horrible loser — as proven in the Game 5 loss to the New York Liberty is last fall’s epic final series, and in 2016, with the Game 5 loss to the L.A. Sparks in another spectacular series.
Then again, anyone who has spent a quarter-century watching the third-rate officiating that plagues the WNBA (and women’s basketball, in general) might have too many sleepless nights due to nightmares.
Also: Coach/boss Reeve probably was grouchy coming in, following her top-seeded team producing one of the most-shocking losses in their 27 seasons in Game 2 on Tuesday at Target Center. And now her team was stumbling up hill for much of the first three quarters.
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Then, for a few minutes late in the third, the tall and short of the Lynx roster seemed wake up their teammates.
Masha Kliundikova, the 27-year-old, 6-foot-4 Russian, shut down the home team’s inside action, and Hiedeman, 5-foot-8 and the “other’’ guard with pink-colored hair, put together a burst that allowed the Lynx to squeeze ahead 65-61.
Kliundikova missed a few 2-foot putbacks, but then hit a jumper and a runner. Hiedeman made some plays. It seemed as though momentum might be swinging. And, poof, then came a nine-point Mercury run.
about the writer
Patrick Reusse
Columnist
Patrick Reusse is a sports columnist who writes three columns per week.
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