The Cathedral of St. Paul rises out of an early morning fog bank on Sept. 16, 1999. The striking green patina of its copper dome was once an iconic feature of the Saintly City’s skyline, but it was replaced in 2002 with the muted cladding seen today. Can you guess how much it weighs? Find out in our Throwback Thursday photo gallery. (Joe Oden / Pioneer Press)

 

When last we saw the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty together on the court nine months ago, it was Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA finals, a contest where a late traveling non-call followed by a questionable defensive foul went against the Lynx and the title went to New York.

For whatever reason, the WNBA schedule-makers did not pit the two teams against one another this season until Wednesday, the first of four games against one another in a 20-day span, including three straight from Aug. 10-19.

It was well worth the wait for Lynx fans.

Napheesa Collier scored 30 points and added nine rebounds in a long-awaited rematch and the Lynx beat New York 100-93 inside Target Center.

“It’s been so long, it doesn’t feel like a finals rematch. Maybe if the schedule was different and we played them in the beginning of the year, but now it just feels like two really good teams going against each other,” Collier said.

Kayla McBride made five of Minnesota’s season-high 15 3-pointers as part of a 24-point night and the Lynx (23-5) have a five-game lead over New York for the WNBA’s best record.

“It’s fun to compete at a high level with the second-best team in the league, that’s what you want, especially at home,” McBride said.

Point guard Courtney Williams struggled with her shot (1-13), but had a career high-tying 13 assists, grabbed nine rebounds and had just one turnover.

“She just didn’t make shots. Everything else she did was really good,” coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Courtney’s long been one of the best rebounding guards in the league, but when she really, really gets locked in, you see what you saw tonight, where she’s elevating above bigs to reach for rebounds that are at the top. When she’s doing that, it’s so good for us and I know she’s in a great place.”

“Courtney is just a hooper,” added McBride.

The highly anticipated game lived up to the massive hype that included the “SportsCenter’s 50 States in 50 Days” tour making its Minnesota stop.

“Fans were excited to see this matchup and I think they were treated to a heck of a basketball game. Great for ESPN as well,” Reeve said.

Collier is the Lynx superstar, but the national broadcast was far from Phee’s show.

Alanna Smith scored 12 points, Bridget Carleton had a trio of treys as part of her 10-point outing, and Natisha Hiedeman came off the bench to provide an early fourth-quarter spark with eight of her 10 points.

New York scored the final seven points of the third quarter to get within six, but back-to-back 3s from Hiedeman and a layup off a Jessica Shepard feed pushed the Lynx lead to 76-65. Shepard, who Reeve said was “terrific,” also grabbed seven rebounds off the bench.

That was a common theme: Minnesota responded every time New York went on a bit of a run. Most importantly, it did so very late.

Sabrina Ionescu and Marine Johannès scored from deep and, followed by Isabelle Harrison scoring low, the Liberty were within four with 1:02 left.

With nearly everyone in the sellout crowd of 10,824 rising to their feet, Collier scored on a scoop around Harrison and added the free-throw to complete a 3-point play for a 95-88 lead with 50.1 seconds left. McBride made three late free throws and Williams two to ice the win.

“More than anything, it was great to show our resilience once again because teams are going to go on runs. They’re a really great team, they’re going to do that, but the fact that we were able to hold them off and still win the game tells a lot about us as well,” Collier said.

Ionescu led the Liberty with 31 points. New York (17-9), which has lost three in a row, played without All-Star forward Breanna Stewart, who missed her second straight game with a right knee bone bruise.

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Bongi Hlongwane clearly loves playing in Leagues Cup.

In the opening game of the tournament with Mexico’s Liga MX on Wednesday, Minnesota United’s attacking midfielder scored the opening goal and made a dangerous run to set up the Loons’ second in a 4-1 blowout win over Queteraro at Allianz Field.

It was the type of performance that harkened to Hlongwaane’s 2023 tournament form when he scored seven goals, second only to some player named Lionel Messi.

In the 11th minute, Hlongwane tapped in Joseph Rosales’ deflected cross for the opening goal. Then in the 19th, Hlongwane went on a 20-plus yard dribble straight through the Queretaro defense and was in on goal if not for a desperate foul from Omar Mendoza just outside of the box.

The threat of Hlongwane set up a free kick that Kelvin Yeboah curled around a Queretaro six-man wall that was less than fully committed to putting their bodies on the line. It helped allow Yeboah to score low and inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.

Queretaro was 0-3-0 in three games to start the Liga MX season and that poor run continued north of the border. Minnesota is dead last in MLS in possession (37%), but had the ball nearly 60% of the first half. The Loons ended with 52% possession.

The Mexican side cut United’s lead in half with a strong strike from Jhojan Julio into the top of the net in the 67th minute.

But two subs put it out of reach. Anthony Markanich created breathing room in the 79th minute and Tani Oluwaseyi turned it into a blowout with a goal in the 90th minute.

Hlongwane nearly had more goals before his teammates put out of reach. Another shot on a breakaway was denied by goalkeeper Jose Hernandez in the 57th minute and another run in behind ended when he was hauled down on the edge of the box. .

The Loons will close out Phase One of the tournament with Mexico’s Liga MX against Club America in Houston on Saturday at Atletico de San Luis in St. Paul next Wednesday.

MNUFC head coach Eric Ramsay estimated his team would need at least seven points in order to be included in the four of 18 MLS clubs who will advance to the quarterfinal knockout round.

The Loons got off to a strong start Wednesday.  The Loons’ plus-3 goal differential could be key in advancing to the quarterfinals.

Jhoan Duran came to the Minnesota Twins as a 20-year old prospect from the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a package for infielder Eduardo Escobar at the 2018 trade deadline.

Seven years later, Duran is again on the move at the trade deadline, as the Twins are selling off again, though this time he is the headliner in the deal.

The Twins are trading their hard-throwing closer in the midst of what is potentially the best season of his career on Wednesday evening to the Philadelphia Phillies, a source confirmed. In return, they are landing catching prospect Eduardo Tait and right-handed pitcher Mick Abel.

When Duran, 27, acknowledged the possibility of a trade just about an hour before news broke, he expressed sadness over the idea of leaving the Twins organization.

“That’d be hard,” Duran said of a potential trade just hours before he was sent to Philadelphia. “I got a couple years here, and I feel like here is my family. So if that happens, that’s maybe breaking my heart a little bit.”

The reliever was considered the best available on the trade market, particularly after Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave earlier this week as Major League Baseball investigates whether he violated its gambling policy.

Duran, who has a 2.01 earned-run average and 53 strikeouts across 49 1/3 innings this season, debuted in 2022 and has been among the best relievers in the game since. He has become a fan favorite at Target Field over the past four seasons for good reason.

The Twins’ asking price for Duran, who still has two years of team control remaining after 2025, was said to be two top-100 prospects. They appear to have gotten that with both Tait (No. 56) and Abel (No. 92) included on MLB Pipeline’s list.

Tait, an 18-year-old catcher, is currently hitting .255 with a .753 OPS and 11 home runs across Class-A and Class-A Advanced this season. Abel, 23, was the Phillies’ first-round selection in the 2020 draft and debuted this season. He has started six games as a major leaguer this year and has a 5.04 earned-run average. He has performed well at Triple-A, with a 2.31 ERA and 81 strikeouts across 74 innings.

The move is the second in what is expected for the Twins to be a busy deadline — all trades must be completed by 5 p.m. CDT on Thursday. The Twins, who are 51-57 and have lost all four series they’ve played since the all-star break, traded starting pitcher Chris Paddack to Detroit on Monday.

Paddack, along with five others — Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe, Ty France and Christian Vázquez — are free agents at season’s end, making them the most likely to be moved.

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