Napheesa Collier had an historic night, and the Lynx continue to roll.

Collier finished with 27 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, including a first-half double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Lynx beat the Aces 87-74 at Target Center.

It is the first time in league history a player has had at least 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a game while shooting at least 70% from the field. Collier was 11 of 15 shooting and had five assists.

Her 18 rebounds was one more than Las Vegas had as a team.

“We played gritty team defense at some points. We looked at things at halftime, and the level of focus I thought we came back with was really fun. When we’re moving like that it’s the most fun basketball. It’s been amazing to be part of. I feel like we’re getting our peak at the right time,” Collier said.

Minnesota (21-8) has won five straight, including all four after the Olympic break.

Alanna Smith finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Courtney Williams added 13 points and seven assists before falling hard with 4:40 to play. Tended to by trainers, she walked off under her own power but did not return. Coach Cheryl Reeve did not have an update after the game.

Kayla McBride and Natisha Heideman each had a dozen points as Minnesota had five players score in double figures for the second straight game.

But this was all about Collier. And not just about offense, because she also led the defensive attempts to slow down A’ja Wilson, the league’s top scorer.

“It’s not just me, it’s team defense,” Collier said. “A’ja is an amazing player, and she is not going to be contained by one person. To play the team defense like we did is really what I think got us both those games.”

Still, Reeve acknowledges it all starts with Collier at both ends of the floor. “To be a highly successful team, your best player has to be the one you can count on.”

Minnesota defeated the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces in three of four meetings this season. The Lynx won 98-87 in Nevada on Wednesday, a game that saw the Lynx use an 8-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter for final separation.

“More than anything, we want to make sure we had the appropriate level of compete, knowing how the Aces would feel going in after winning on their floor and the level of compete they would bring,” Reeve said.

Over about a three-minute span in the third quarter, the Lynx turned a seven-point lead into a 62-45 edge. Collier had five points in the stretch and Hiedeman made a 3-pointer, and most of the 9,124 in attendance were roaring.

But the Aces weren’t done, whittling the Lynx lead to six with 3:16 remaining, McBride drained a 3-pointer and Collier did the same 35 seconds later. A pair of free throws from Wilson got the Aces (17-11) within 10, but Collier fed Smith for a layup, making it 84-72.

“Phee is great every game. It’s fun to be a part of it and witness it,” Smith said.

“For every coach out there, you hope you get one Phee, because that’s the promised land,” Reeve said. “People want to play with her. People want to be a Minnesota Lynx because of Napheesa Collier.”

Minnesota is 13-3 at home, including 8-1 against Western Conference foes.

The Lynx return to Target Center on Saturday night with Caitlin Clark and Indiana in town — along with an expected few thousand University of Iowa fans. Minnesota will retire the No. 23 of Maya Moore Irons after the game.

Each team had offensive spurts in the opening half that resulted in a 40-39 Lynx lead at the break. Neither team led by more than seven.

Down 13-8 midway through the opening quarter, the Lynx scored the next 10 points – seven by Collier – including a fast-break layup after a steal and feed by McBride forcing an Aces timeout.

Las Vegas scored the final five points to make it 18-all after 10 minutes.

A McBride three pushed Minnesota’s lead to 31-24, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Megan Gustafson and Tiffany Hayes, a pair of Wilson free throws and a Kelsey Plum 3-pointer gave the Aces a four-point lead with 3:14 left before halftime.

Collier scored on a layup and short jumper in the half’s final minute.

Related Articles

Scorching shooting night lifts Lynx to win over Las Vegas Aces

Napheesa Collier fills scoring role as Lynx pull away from Mystics

Lynx rusty in return from Olympics break but get a win over Washington

For Lynx’s Reeve and Collier, Team USA Olympic experience came with pressure, then brought relief and elation

Lynx’s Reeve fueling good vibes with Lynx as Olympic break arrives

When hip-hop albums are put together, they often seem collaborative concoctions that blend multiple visions, each rapper and producer contributing their own verse, riff, sample or groove. So it’s a pleasant surprise when you find a hip-hop artist with their own individualistic style, creating music that seems to come from one person’s mind and heart.

What’s even more rare is finding that that artist’s strong recorded output doesn’t do them justice. That they turn out to be a magnetic and disarmingly genuine live performer who connects with a crowd like only a handful of others in their genre.

Such an artist is Chance the Rapper, who performed a powerful and richly entertaining concert at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on Friday night. Here’s a performer with a sense of his place in the progression of pop music, tapping into the roots of funk, soul and R&B for his arrangements and then applying eloquent poetry atop it, often in very fast fashion.

Not only that, but Chancelor Bennett from Chicago’s South Side proved a warm and welcoming host for the enthusiastic crowd, some of whom likely traveled for this, one of only three concerts on his schedule this year and the only one outside his hometown. Devoid of the macho posturing that can shape the performances of many a male hip-hopper, Chance the Rapper comes off as unapologetically dorky, bouncing about the stage like a loose-limbed marionette and engaging the audience in call and response passages and full-body arm waves.

Performing with a keyboardist, drummer, trumpeter and three backing singers who provided lush harmonies and sometimes stepped forward for breathtaking solos, Chance showed he knows how to endear himself to a crowd. In fact, he one-upped any performer in the Grandstand’s half-century-plus of history with one particular song.

Explaining that he was told within the last two weeks that his Grandstand show had sold 3,333 seats in a 14,000-seat venue — ironic, as one of his trademarks is wearing a ballcap adorned with the number 3 — he was asked if he wanted to cancel the show. He not only responded with an expletive-accented no, but wrote a song in honor of those ticket buyers called “3,333,” complete with accompanying video and pop-up lyrics that referenced the State Fair and the fact that he used to play shows with as many people onstage as in the audience.

That song launched a string of captivating numbers in which Chance and his ensemble seemed to engage more deeply, both musically and lyrically, with each passing tune. “YAH Know” was a socially conscious rapid-fire rap with a driving beat and the urgent refrain of “You’ll know when we get there.” Even more earnest was “Child of God,” a ballad on which the frontman seemed both exhilarated and transcendent. And “Summer Friends” was a sweet reminiscence with an aching sense of loss around the edges.

Some of the slower songs were downright hypnotic in their gospel-flavored harmonies, such as “Ultralight Beam,” “Ride” and “The Highs and the Lows.” And a closing coupling of “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and “Same Drugs” brought some familiarity to a set that had a fair number of new songs that have yet to appear on record.

While his 75-minute set may have proven too brief for some — especially after a warmup set of the same length from DJ Oreo — it was quite satisfying musically. And the crowd, which came in at a final count of 4,110, seemed to enjoy every one of the 21 songs. And, with a performer this charismatic, how could they resist?

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Related Articles

Concert review: Latin pop star Becky G opens Minnesota State Fair Grandstand season with abundantly good vibes

Concert review: Def Leppard and Journey struggle with vocals at Target Field

Minnesota State Fair 2024: A look at this year’s Grandstand offerings

Concert review: Green Day play their two biggest albums at high-energy Target Field show

Concert review: At the X, Hozier shows he’s just getting better with time

After losing 10 games in a row, the St. Paul Saints have now reeled off three straight wins after beating the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 14-6 on Friday night at CHS Field.

Jair Camargo and Michael Helman each had three hits for St. Paul, while Rylan Bannon hit a three-run homer to lead an offense that put up 16 hits. Alex Kirilloff, starting a rehab assignment for the Minnesota Twins, doubled in five at-bats.

Randy Dobnak (10-6) allowed six runs — five earned — in five innings for the Saints. He gave up eight hits and three walks in a tough outing. But Friday was all about the St. Paul offense.

The Saints scored seven times in the first inning to blow the game open.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. had a two-run single to start the scoring for St. Paul after Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored once in the top of the first. Camargo and Payton Eeles had RBI singles before Bannon’s three-run homer, his 17th of the season.

Three more runs scored in the third on an error and a two-run single by Diego A. Castillo. Camargo added a two-run double in the fourth before the RailRiders started to chip away at the lead.

Helman added an RBI single and Wynton Bernard had an RBI double in the sixth.

Related Articles

Dobnak back with Saints while thankful for return to Twins

St. Paul Saints end 10-game losing streak with massive comeback

Saints’ Morris is latest prospect in Twins’ arms race

St. Paul Saints’ losing streak grows to nine games with walk-off loss to Indianapolis

Indianapolis’ Thomas Harrington, two relievers shut out Saints and send them to eighth straight loss

Xcel Energy is modifying its controversial proposal to charge customers significantly more for electricity they use during peak times of the day.

Minnesota’s largest electric utility had proposed charging variable rates to better reflect the actual cost of delivering electricity during high-demand periods, reduce strain on the electric grid and potentially eliminate the need to build new power plants.

Xcel said its goal was to get customers to shift their electricity use to off-peak periods when energy is more affordable to generate and deliver. It planned to enroll all residential customers in the time-of-use rate program unless they chose to opt out.

But the proposal met with pushback from some Xcel customers and consumer advocates. They said the price difference between peak and off-peak rates was too large, and some customers might not be able to change their energy use to avoid higher bills.

The initial proposal would have charged roughly seven times more for using electricity during summer peak hours than off-peak periods.

In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission, Xcel said after collecting feedback, it’s modifying the plan and making it voluntary for customers to opt in, instead of the default.

Its new plan shortens the peak period and shifts it later to 7-10 p.m. weekdays, instead of 3-8 p.m. as originally proposed. There’s also smaller price difference between peak and off-peak rates.

Electricity will still be cheapest from midnight to 6 a.m., when there’s an abundance of available wind energy.

Xcel says it plans to educate customers about the time-of-use rate program and its potential benefits.

Related Articles

Western Minnesota man sentenced for making online threats to shoot up UMN campus

Photos: Opening day of the 2024 Minnesota State Fair

Estranged wife of DOC commissioner charged with attempted murder of their adult son

Adam Fravel’s murder trial moved from Winona to Mankato

A tale of two retailers: Target reverses sales slump while Macy’s reports another quarterly decline