The best-of-five WNBA semifinal series between the Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun was widely expected to be close.

It’ll go to the limit.

Tyasha Harris scored a playoff career-high 20 points, Alyssa Thomas added 18 points, and the Sun took over in the second half to win 92-82 Sunday in Uncasville, Conn., to force a deciding Game 5 at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Target Center.

Seeded second, the Lynx seek a finals berth for the first time since 2017, when the franchise won its fourth title in seven years.

The best-of-five WNBA Finals start Thursday in New York. Seeking its first title, the top-seeded Liberty eliminated the two-time defending champion Las Vegas on Sunday in the other semifinal.

A 7-0 run got the Lynx within 88-80 with less than two minutes to play, but Minnesota could not get all the way back.

DeWanna Bonner scored on a drive. Napheesa Collier answered with a fadeaway jumper, but DiJonai Carrington countered with a cutting layup for a 10-point lead with 54.6 seconds left.

Collier had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Lynx, and Natisha Hiedeman added 16 points off the bench for Minnesota, which shot 46.7% for the game. But that number was 34.5% in the second half.

Connecticut shot 60% in the second half, including 5 of 10 from deep in outscoring Minnesota 49-32 in the 20 minutes.

Nine of 14 from 3 in the first half, the Lynx, the league’s top 3-point shooting team, missed its first 10 shots from deep in the second half and made just 1 of 12.

Up by seven to start the third quarter, the Lynx were outscored 25-13 by the third-seeded Sun in the frame.

Minnesota shot 4 for 17 in the quarter and missed all seven attempts from outside the arc. Connecticut made 11 of 20 field goals and was 3 of 5 from deep to open a 68-63 lead.

Connecticut had a 50-30 advantage in points in the paint.

The Sun scored just 15 points in the opening quarter on 35.3% shooting, but they quickly found their strokes. Connecticut was 20 for 35 in the middle two quarters scoring 53 points.

Minnesota was sharp right away.

Collier had four early rebounds and scored six straight points for a 14-7 Lynx lead midway through the first quarter. Minnesota made five of its first seven shots; Connecticut three of its first 11.

Back-to-back treys by Collier and Carleton pushed the lead to 10.

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Gophers women’s hockey coach Brad Frost believes the current version of the Gophers boasts one of his deepest rosters in recent years. That depth was on display on Sunday afternoon at Ridder Arena as five different Gophers scored in a 5-2 victory over the Boston University Terriers.

The win improved the No. 2 Gophers to 4-0 and has them riding high as they prepare for the start of WCHA play, which begins with a weekend series at defending national champion Ohio State next weekend, followed by a matchup with Wisconsin at Ridder the following weekend.

For Frost, improving the Gophers’ depth was all about closing the gap between the Gophers and their two WCHA — and national — rivals.

“As you look at the last (five) national championships, they are the ones holding on to those,” Frost said. “We knew we needed to get better. We’ve had good years over the past number, but if we want to get to the top we’ve got to have a group where, if there’s an injury, we have people there.”

Improving depth is another way of saying increasing the overall talent level.

“We’re playing four lines, and in women’s hockey, most teams don’t play four lines,” Frost said. “We have the talent and ability to do that. That’s really important, especially on back-to-back nights. But we’ve also increased the talent of our roster, as well.”

The newcomers include skilled freshmen, as well as productive transfers. Gophers leading goal scorer Abbey Murphy spoke after Friday night’s game of how the additions have added to the teams overall strength, and senior forward Peyton Hemp echoed those words on Sunday.

“Top to bottom, it’s good player after good player,” said Hemp, who got the Gophers’ scoring started with the lone goal in the first period. “You can trust every single person when they’re on the ice.”

Sunday afternoon, the Gophers held a 1-0 lead past the midway point of the second period before the Terriers tied the game. But the Gophers needed only 61 seconds to regain the lead when Murphy scored on a penalty shot, her fifth goal of the season.

Ella Huber scored her first goal of the season three minutes later as the Gophers took a 3-1 lead into the third period.

Defenseman Sydney Morrow, one of the transfers, made it a 4-1 game 27 seconds into the third period. The Terriers cut into the lead at 2:12 of the period, but once again the Gophers responded quickly, with defenseman Nelli Laitinen getting her first of the season 54 seconds later.

“Happy to see us score some goals tonight,” Frost said, referring to Friday’s 1-0 win. “Better job of going to the net and getting some quality chances there.”

Freshman goaltender Hannah Clark — highly recruited out of Ontario, Canada, as a member of Canada’s Under-18 national team — earned the victory in her first collegiate start. She made one of her best saves in the first period on a point-blank shot when the game was scoreless.

The Gophers gained control of the puck and began a rush that ended in Hemp’s goal.

“I thought she played really well,’ Frost said. “Very calm. I was really happy with how Hannah played.”

Skylar Vetter remains the Gophers’ top goaltender, but, again, there’s that added depth.

Expectations are certainly high.

“We’re two weekends in and there’s still a lot of learning and things to take place,” Frost said.

Two weekends in against non-conference opponents. To be followed by two weekends that will be a good gauge of where the Gophers are positioned — at least for now — on the national landscape.

“Playing out of conference is fun,” Hemp said, “but it’s a real test for us to get the top dogs.”

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minnesota police officer who was convicted of killing a Black motorist when she used her handgun instead of her taser during a traffic stop is out of prison and delivering presentations at law enforcement conferences, stirring up a heated debate over how officers punished for misconduct should atone for their misdeeds.

After Kim Potter served her sentence for killing Daunte Wright, she met with the prosecutor who charged her case. That former prosecutor, Imran Ali, said Potter wanted to do something to help other officers avoid taking a life. Ali saw the presentation as a path toward redemption for police officers who have erred and an opportunity to promote healing in communities already shaken by police misconduct.

But Katie Wright, Daunte’s mother, said the plan amounts to an enraging scheme where her son’s killer would turn a profit from his death and dredge up painful memories in the process.

“I think that Kim Potter had her second chance. She got to go home with her children. That was her second chance,” Wright said. “I think that when we’re looking at police officers, when they’re making quote-unquote mistakes, they still get to live in our community. They still get to continue their lives. That’s their second chance. We don’t have a second chance to be able to bring our loved ones back.”

Potter did not respond to phone and email messages, and Ali declined to show the AP the full presentation. But he described Potter’s opening line in a presentation for a law enforcement agency in Washington state, which read: “I killed Daunte Wright. I’m not proud of it. And neither should you be.”

That presentation was abruptly canceled in September after news reports generated criticism. But other law enforcement groups, including one of the largest in Minnesota, have hosted the presentation and are continuing to invite Potter to speak.

Some see canceling her presentation as short-sighted, saying she could share a cautionary tale with others who have to make life-or-death decisions in the field.

“This is the definition of why I decided to walk away. You have somebody that recognizes the need for reform, recognizes the need for redemption, recognizes the need to engage. And still,” Ali said. “If you’re in law enforcement in this country, there is no redemption.”

Ali initially was co-counsel in the case against Potter. But he resigned, saying “vitriol” and “partisan politics” made it hard to pursue justice. Ali is now a law enforcement consultant and said he is working to help departments implement changes that could prevent more officers from making Potter’s mistake.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office took over the prosecution of Potter after Ali resigned, has said the former officer’s public expression of remorse could help the community heal.

Wright was killed on April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from where the officer who killed George Floyd was on trial. Wright’s killing ignited protests as communities in Minneapolis and beyond were still reeling from Floyd’s murder. A jury later found Potter guilty of manslaughter. A judge said Potter never intended to hurt Wright and sentenced her to two years in prison. She was released after 16 months and later connected with Ali.

“I was like, wow. Even after being convicted, even after being driven out of your home, even after having so many death threats against you and having been incarcerated, you just don’t want to go away,” Ali said.

The pair have become a fixture at Minnesota Sheriff’s Association events. They delivered training sessions at conferences in June and September, with a future training scheduled in October. They also took their presentation out of state in May when Potter presented at a law enforcement conference in Indiana, event agendas show.

Jeff Storms, the Wright family’s attorney, said the description of the Washington training session in the contract prepared by Ali’s law firm reads more like an advertisement tailored for police officers who feel embattled, rather than a heartfelt story of Potter’s regrets.

“The officer, and the prosecutor who quit in protest, will deliver a dynamic presentation on the truth of what occurred, the increased violence and non-compliance directed towards law enforcement, the importance of training, and steps we can take in the future,” says the contract for the training session, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

That passage suggests Ali is engineering support for Potter and his law firm, Storms said.

“They profit from law enforcement training. And so to say this is simply about sort of a redemption arc for Ms. Potter in doing this training, it sounds really hard to believe that that’s the case,” Storms said.

Ali’s firm proposed a $8,000 charge for the training session, which includes speaking fees and travel costs, the contract says.

“To say my firm is trying to benefit off an $8,000 contract is ridiculous,” Ali said.

He did not say how much money Potter would earn, but said the amount was far less than what she might earn telling her story through a book deal or another project.

Ali said he is committed to helping law enforcement agencies implement changes that would prevent more officers from making Potter’s mistake. The backlash to Potter telling her story at the training session speaks to a view among some that redemption for those convicted of crimes does not extend to police officers, Ali said.

“We can give the benefit of the doubt to people that are former Ku Klux Klan members or former skinheads that come in and educate, sometimes even our youth,” Ali said. “But we cannot give law enforcement that chance.”

Rachel Moran, a professor specializing in police accountability at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, said the perspectives of victims and their families should be considered by law enforcement agencies when they decide who to include at training sessions. But Potter’s voice might be able to penetrate a law enforcement culture that is skeptical of outside criticism, she said

“Police officers culturally do have a pattern of not wanting to hear outside perspectives and not believing other people can understand the situation,” she added. “So to hear from someone who is very much in their shoes, who’s actually willing to admit an error, I think that has potential to be heard more by officers than an outsider.”

In an interview, James Stuart, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, said Potter’s upcoming presentation would go on, despite the blowback. His organization has a responsibility to learn from the “national moment of upheaval” sparked by Potter’s killing of Wright.

“She’ll be the first to say she’s not a hero and it was a horrific tragic accident,” Stuart said. “I understand the concerns and the criticisms, but I would also hope they could understand the value of learning from mistakes and making sure that no other families find themselves in that same situation.”

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