Three-point shooting has been a primary Lynx calling card this season.

It was again in Las Vegas late Tuesday.

Bridget Carleton tied a career-high with five of the team’s season-high-tying 15 makes from deep and the Lynx used balanced scoring to win 100-86 over the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces.

Minnesota (9-3) has won five of six.

It did so with a balanced offensive attack. All starters scored in double figures. Minnesota’s 55.8% field-goal percentage is a season high.

Alanna Smith finished with a solid all-around stat line of 18 points, four rebounds and added three assists to go along with a block and steal.

Kayla McBride had 16 points and added eight assists but was just 2 of 3 from deep. Having made 15 3-pointers in her prior two games, McBride missed tying a WNBA record of 19 in three games set by Diana Taurasi and Cynthia Cooper.

Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx drives against A’ja Wilson (22) of the Las Vegas Aces in the second quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on June 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Courtney Williams had 15 points and nine assists.

Napheesa Collier overcame early foul trouble to finish with 14 points, six assists and six rebounds on a day she was officially named to the U.S. Women’s National Team roster that’ll compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Minnesota led by 20 early in the fourth quarter, but the Aces got within 11 midway through the fourth. Smith halted that momentum with Minnesota’s 14th 3-pointer of the night. A trey from Carleton pushed the lead back to 17.

Tops in the league in assists per game at 24.2 entering the game, the Lynx had a season-high 34 on 37 baskets. Minnesota scored 21 points off 14 Las Vegas turnovers.

A’ja Wilson led Las Vegas (5-5) with 28 points, but the Aces have lost three straight and four of five.

By finishing 4-1 in Commissioner’s Cup games, the WNBA’s annual in-season competition, the Lynx put themselves in a good spot to represent the Western Conference in the June 25 championship game at New York that has $500,000 on the line.

In simplest terms, if Las Vegas beats Phoenix Thursday, the Lynx are in.

Minnesota shot 62.9% from the field in the opening two quarters, including nine 3-pointers, capped by one from Carleton in the final second of the first half, for a 59-48 lead at the break.

It is the most points scored by the Lynx in a half this season and the most first-half points allowed by Las Vegas since 2020.

Las Vegas scored just 12 points in the third quarter, throwing up eight 3-point misses, as the Lynx methodically pulled away to lead by 18 entering the fourth quarter.

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Louie Varland was back in the major leagues on Tuesday for a spot start, during which he did all that he could to showcase the progress he has made while at Triple-A.

It took just three batters for all of his hard work to unravel.

Varland threw five scoreless innings on Tuesday only to watch the game turn quickly upon his departure. Three batters after he departed, the Twins were down three runs and they eventually fell 5-4 to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Target Field.

The St. Paulite, who earned the fifth spot in the rotation out of camp only to post a 9.18 earned-run average in four starts, was efficient in his start, cruising on just 63 pitches.

But rather than let him face the Rockies’ order for the third time — opponents entered the day with a .353 batting average against him the third time through the order — the Twins turned the game over to the bullpen.

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) throws to first after forcing out Colorado Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar, bottom, on a double play hit into by Ryan McMahon during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

The Rockies quickly capitalized.

Caleb Thielbar allowed a single and issued a walk before Ezequiel Tovar unleashed on a fastball and sent it out to left-center field.

Thielbar, enduring his own struggles this season, wound up giving up another run in the inning, pushing the Twins into a hole from which they never recovered.

Byron Buxton’s two-run home run in the seventh inning cut the Rockies’ lead in half, but a potential opportunity later in the inning was halted when Carlos Santana was doubled off first base on a fly ball to left field.

Santana did bring the Twins within a run with two outs in the ninth, sending a two-run shot out to left field, but a Ryan McMahon home run an inning earlier proved the difference.

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The Professional Women’s Hockey League held its awards luncheon in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, an event meant to put a bow on the inaugural season.

But one important bit of unfinished business hung over the festivities, just as it had the night before at the draft: answering the question of who is running Team Minnesota.

Coach Ken Klee made one thing clear on Tuesday — it won’t be him.

Klee met with PWHL officials Tuesday morning, and while he left the meeting set to continue in his current role, he said he is not interested in replacing Natalie Darwitz as general manager.

PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford turned down an interview request from the Pioneer Press on Tuesday to discuss the process and timeline for naming a general manager. The league did confirm that it has begun the search for Darwitz’s replacement.

It remains an unsettling situation for the league, and in particular for the team that won the championship. Darwitz is held in high regard in her hometown, so whomever lands the job will have that to contend with that. Bringing in an “outsider” risks upsetting even more members of the fan base.

In the meantime, with free agency about to begin, it’s unclear who is making the decisions on which of Minnesota’s players on one-year deals will be offered new contracts and which free agents, if any, Minnesota will pursue.

Minnesota was able to do more celebrating on Tuesday with Grace Zumwinkle being named rookie of the year. Zumwinkle was the only Minnesota player among the three finalists for the various individual awards.

She also was named to the all-rookie team and a second-team all-star. Minnesota defender Sophie Jaques also was named to the all-rookie team.

Center Taylor Heise was recognized for being named the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Not surprisingly, Toronto dominated the awards, which were based on regular-season performance. Toronto finished first but was upset by Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.

Natalie Spooner was named most valuable player as well as forward of the year. Toronto’s Troy Ryan was named coach of the year, and Kristen Campbell goaltender of the year. Montreal’s Erin Ambrose was named defender of the year.

Campbell, Ambrose and Spooner earned first-team all-star honors, along with New York forward Alex Carpenter, New York defender Ella Shelton and Montreal forward Marie-Philip Poulin.

Zumwinkle made a smooth transition to the pro game after playing for the Gophers last season. The Excelsior native scored 11 goals, tied for second-most in the league. She also collected the first hat-trick in league history.

“I think just focusing on your strengths,” Zumwinkle said when asked what made it possible to be successful in the league right away. You hear players talk about what makes them special and so unique, and something I try to focus on is getting to the dirty areas in front of the net.

“I think that helped make me successful. I tried to score some goals, and I think when you just focus on the things you do very well, it helps you in the end.”

Zumwinkle also possesses a good shot, and she enjoys putting it to use.

“I do like to shoot the puck,” she said. “You look at the stats, if you average six to seven shots a game, hopefully one will go in here and there. No shot in hockey is a bad shot. So just try to focus on that and the process as a whole.”

There were times during the season that Klee had to implore some of his players to shoot more. Zumwinkle wasn’t one of them.

“Super proud of her,” Klee said. “She had an unbelievable year for us. Coming out as a rookie you never know how it is going to go. She started good — she had a lot of goals early, which was huge.

“Then, even down the stretch, even with her not contributing a lot offensively, she was still a factor in every game. The other team had to counteract her. So, for me, she played great all year.”

Zumwinkle seems to have what it takes to emerge as one of the league’s premier players in the years ahead.

“I told her, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to train because next year is going to be harder,’ ” Klee said. “The players coming in are going to be better.”

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It’s rare Eden Prairie can ever be considered a Cinderella in the sports realm, but the Eagles are making quite the impressive run at the moment in boys lacrosse. And the ride lives for at least another round.

Eden Prairie was the No. 4 seed in the Section 6 tournament and edged top-seeded Prior Lake in the section semifinals before downing third-seeded Edina in the section final.

Both were tight, low-scoring contests.

The Eagles followed a similar formula in the boys state quarterfinals Tuesday at Eden Prairie High School.

Eden Prairie flummoxed Eagan’s usually potent offense en route to an 8-6 upset victory in the No. 4-5 matchup.

The fifth-seeded Eagles will meet top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday at Chaska High School. The Red Knights topped unseeded Centennial 16-7 on Tuesday.

Eden Prairie (12-5) came out on fire Tuesday, compiling a 5-0 lead after the first frame, something senior attackman Danny Burke chalked up to preparation.

“We had a good week of practice, and then just coming out and knowing what we wanted to do in the game and then executing,” said Burke, who tallied three goals and two assists. “I think that was the key to the win today.”

Burke is friends with Eagan star attackman Sam Simon, and he admitted it’s a fun motivation to prove himself against what he considers to be a superior player. Eden Prairie’s offense certainly established more rhythm than Eagan’s early.

The Wildcats (13-4) struggled to generate good looks. In large part, that was a product of Eden Prairie’s defense.

Burke credited the defensive efforts of Isaiah Hazekamp and Max Kukla for making Simon’s life difficult, while noting Aiden Chipongian played “lights out” in net.

“We were playing, obviously, against one of the best players in the state,” Burke said. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the guys down on the defensive side of the ball.”

Eagan trailed 6-2 at the half and was down 8-3 in the final frame. To the Wildcats’ credit, they potted the final three goals of the contest – two of which came from Simon – and nearly pulled within one with roughly 20 seconds to play, only to have a shot clang off the crossbar.

“We’ve done it so many times. We’ve scored eight-, nine-goal quarters. And, at halftime, that’s what we were talking about doing. We just had to really come together,” Simon said. “I think we partially came together. Defense and offense started playing better, more unselfish. But at the end, we just couldn’t make it happen. We’re excited to have a couple more games and prove ourselves.”

The Wildcats are making their first state tournament appearance since 2018. Simon noted how special this week is for Eagan after narrowly missing out a year ago after a four-overtime section final loss to Cretin-Derham Hall.

“I think it means a lot for our coaches and all the players here, especially the 16 seniors, who this is it for them. This is our last run,” Simon said. “So we’re really excited to be here, excited to prove that Eagan lacrosse can hang with all these other boys.”

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