Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 9.24.25

VikingsLynxLoons

Sep 24

We’re 48 hours away from the Ryder Cup and the ability to make the term “dormy” relevant for three days. Just hope it’s close on Sunday.

The Wild is 1-0-1 in the pre-season after a rookie-laden team took a veteran Dallas team to overtime before losing last night. I put very little stock into NHL pre-season games, but road games like that with inexperienced players are supposed to be 5-0 losses, not 2-1 losses.

I’m old enough to remember when we didn’t pop champagne for just making the MLB post-season. Of course, a lot harder to make it back then too…

Mercury Rally from 20 Down for Game 2 Win Over Lynx

So good in the clutch all season, the Lynx surrendered a 20-point lead in the second half and didn’t foul in a must-foul situation late in regulation as Phoenix rallied for a big Game 2 win, 89-83, at Target Center last night. The best-of-five series moves to Phoenix on Friday for Game 3.

The Lynx had everything in control, up 20 late in the third quarter. Suddenly the Mercury reeled off 10 straight points.

In the fourth, the Lynx were all over the place. In a span of two minutes, Courtney Williams made a bad foul, a bad turnover (one of seven in the game), and then hit a key running bank shot. Napheesa Collier spent more time on the bench early in the fourth than an MVP candidate should have.

Late in regulation, the Lynx couldn’t in bound the ball and got called for a five-second violation. And with the seconds winding down and a foul to give, they somehow didn’t foul and watched Sami Whitcomb drain a 3-pointer to force overtime.

The Lynx got just three points off the bench, a big reason why they faltered late. Natisha Hiedeman has been ineffective in the post-season after her strong late season push.

Napheesa Collier led the Lynx with 24 points, but she missed 12 of 22 shots.

As a team, Minnesota missed 21 of its 28 3-pointers. Bridget Carlton played 41 minutes and didn’t hit a field goal.

Matthews Puts it All Together in Final Start of Season

Zebby Matthews had allowed 14 runs in his last two starts before yielding just one in seven innings last night in a win at Texas to start the penultimate series of the season. He struck out six, didn’t walk anyone and needed only 90 pitches.

Tell a friend to sign up for The Takeout today: https://cutt.ly/5jc87CG

Sponsor The Takeout

Sponsorship packages are available! The Takeout is a great spot to advertise your small business. Get thousands of eyeballs on your product every month. E-mail ryanstanzel@gmail.com