The Minnesota Lynx saw their season and the career of Sylvia Fowles’s career come to an end on Sunday as they fell 90-83 to the Connecticut Sun.
The Lynx entered Sunday needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. If Minnesota won, they would have needed a loss from the Phoenix Mercury or New York Liberty to make their 12th straight playoff appearance.
That was a tall task against a Connecticut team that had won the previous two meetings this season. Despite wrapping up the third seed in the playoffs, the Sun were not content to cruise into the postseason and outscored the Lynx 28-14 in the first quarter.
Minnesota’s answer came in the form Linsday Allen, who caught fire from beyond the arc. The veteran guard exploded for a career-high 26 points and knocked 6-of-7 3-pointers to keep the Lynx in the game.
After trailing by as many as 19 points, Aerial Powers’s runner with just over three minutes to go capped a 14-2 run that made it an 80-76 game but Connecticut answered with a run of their own, using 15 points from Natisha Hiedeman to close out the game, Minnesota’s season and the 15-year-career of Fowles.
Fowles scored 10 points and 12 rebounds on the afternoon, giving her the 193rd double-double of her career — the most in WNBA history. Fowles also finishes her career as the all-time leading rebounder in league history with 4,006 boards and a 59.9 percent field goal percentage.
A four-time WNBA Champion and WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Fowles was also an eight-time All-Star and 2017 WNBA MVP. She goes down as one of the greatest players in league history and received a standing ovation from the Connecticut crowd as she was removed from the game with 43.2 seconds left.
The Lynx finish the season with a 14-22 record and are heading into an offseason with major questions. With Fowles’s retirement, Minnesota’s roster could be in for an overhaul heading into next season.
