Who is Napheesa Collier? Lynx star shines with 29 points as Minnesota beat Sky 88-79

Napheesa Collier, a WNBA player for the Minnesota Lynx, is having a great season. She just dropped 29 points in a win against the Chicago Sky, going 10-for-18.

Collier is averaging 21.9 points per game this season. She is also grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game. That is third best in the WNBA behind only Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart.

Collier has scored more than 20 points 16 times this season. She has filled up the stat sheet night in and night out. She dropped a season-high 35 points in a loss to the Atlanta Dream. It was her fourth 30-point game of the season.

Collier will try to keep the Lynx alive in the playoff race. Minnesota (14-15) is sixth in the standings, three games ahead of ninth place and missing the playoffs.

Collier has had a solid career. She won Rookie of the Year in 2019 and made the All-WNBA second team the next season. She has made the All-Star Game three times, including this season.

She had a career high 16.2 ppg along with an astonishing 1.3 blocks per game in 2021.

Collier also had some success in the international game. She was a part of the women’s team that dominated the field on the way to gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Where did Napheesa Collier play in college?

Collier played at UConn for the legendary women’s basketball program under Geno Auriemma. She was the sixth pick in the 2019 WNBA draft.

Collier helped the Huskies to the 2016 national championship and to the Final Four in all four of her seasons.

She was a two-time, first-team All American in 2017 and 2019. She also made the second team in 2018.

At the end of her UConn career, she was ranked third in scoring (2,401 points), fourth in rebounding (1,219) and seventh (251) in blocks. She was extremely consistent.

Collier was a double-double machine despite her shorter size. She had 49 double-doubles at UConn and averaged double figures in scoring and rebounding in her senior season.

Collier, a three-time Missouri Class 4A state champion in high school, formed a dynamic duo with Katie Lou Samuelson. The two scored the most points by a pair in UConn history.