Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) huddles with her teammates during their WNBA semifinal playoff game.

PHOENIX -- One half of the WNBA Finals is locked in.

The Minnesota Lynx could not overcome the loss of their biggest star, Napheesa Collier, and coach Cheryl Reeve and saw their season end at the hands on the Phoenix Mercury, 86-81, on Sunday at PHX Arena.

The Mercury, who trailed by as many as 14 points, return the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021.

"It took everybody, everybody on this team," said guard Alyssa Thomas, who led the Mercury with 23 points and 10 assists. "We're hungry, we are super ready for this moment and I am just super proud of the way we fought today."

Phoenix awaits the winner of the other series. The Indiana Fever forced a Game 5 by defeating the Las Vegas Aces, 90-83, Sunday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The best-of-five semifinal series heads back to Las Vegas on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Fever center Aliyah Boston scored 17 of her playoff career-high 24 points in the second half, in addition to 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

“When we're the aggressive and move the ball, good things happen for us," Fever coach Stephanie White said. "We attacked. We played with a sense of urgency, we made the right reads and the right plays."

Here are winners and losers from Sunday's WNBA semifinal games:

Winners

Phoenix Mercury

The Mercury entered this season with question marks following the end of the Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner era in Phoenix. Despite returning two players from last season's roster, the Mercury advanced to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021. They did so with another double-digit comeback win over the Minnesota Lynx.

"Proud of how we responded today," Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas said. "We could have easily given up, we could have been heading to Minnesota right now. But, we stuck together."

The Mercury outscored the Lynx 31-13 in the fourth quarter to win the best-of-five series, 3-1. Phoenix will now get to rest ahead of the WNBA Finals, as the Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever will play a winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday.

“We need some days off,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said.

Mercury F DeWanna Bonner's clutch shooting

DeWanna Bonner started the season with the Indiana Fever in search of a title. Now has a chance to earn another one with the Mercury. The forward played the first decade of her career with Phoenix, winning titles in 2009 and 2014.

After starting slow in the WNBA semifinal series against the Lynx, Bonner turned in a vintage performance that fueled the Mercury’s comeback. She had 13 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Heading into Sunday, Bonner had averaged 2.6 points in the first three semifinal games against the Lynx.

"I haven't been shooting well throughout the playoffs, but teammates kept telling me to keep shooting, forget it, forget the other games," Bonner said.

"Just happy those balls went in at that moment, because I cannot go back to Minnesota."

Fever F Aliyah Boston's dominance in the paint

Aliyah Boston, who set a career-playoff high with 24 points, added 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Boston is the second player in Fever playoff history to turn in that stat line and score 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and five or more steals in a game, joining Tamika Catchings. The Hall of Famer did it twice.

“It's just being confident,” Boston said. “The fans were great, everyone showed out, and we were confident shooting the ball.”

Fever G Kelsey Mitchell back to efficient self

Mitchell bounced back from two subpar games based on her standards. Following a 34-point performance in the Fever’s Game 1 win, Mitchell was held to 13 points in Game 2, shooting 28.6% from the field. She recorded 21 points in the Fever’s Game 3 loss, but shot 30.8% from the field. She turned in a much more efficient effort in Game 4 on Sunday, with a team-high 25 points (9-of-20 FG, 2-of-5 3PT).

Lynx G Kayla McBride gave it all

Kayla McBride was emotional in the postgame press conference after leaving it all on the floor. McBride finished with a game-high 31 points in the Lynx’s Game 4 loss, shooting 10-of-23 from the field including 6-of-11 from the 3-point line.

"In sports, it doesn't get any better than what we have now," McBride said through tears. "That's why I am emotional. Because we laid out for each other, it's never about anything else but each other.

"To be close two years in a row and hit adverse situations. ... It's hard, especially when you leave everything out there."

Losers

Minnesota Lynx season over

The Lynx’s season has ended in devastating fashion, again. One year after losing to the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals in a controversial Game 5 that Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said was “stolen from us,” the Lynx have fallen short again after facing more adversity and controversy.

The Lynx played Sunday without MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier, who injured her left ankle in the closing seconds of Game 3, and head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was suspended by the league. The Lynx dropped to a seven-player rotation for Game 4 and couldn’t stave off elimination, despite carrying a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.

It was the second double-digit lead the Lynx have given up in the second half in the best-of-five semifinal series after losing a 20-point lead in a Game 2 win in Minnesota.

Las Vegas Aces pushed to brink

The Aces failed to close out a playoff series yet again. Las Vegas now finds itself facing the second winner-take-all game this postseason after squandering a 31-point game from MVP A’ja Wilson. Wilson, Jackie Young (18 points) and Chelsea Young (12) combined for 61 of the Aces’ 81 points. NaLyssa Smith was limited to eight points in 22 minutes due to foul trouble and she’s not the only one. Smith, Gray and Young each finished with five fouls, which Wilson called “very interesting.”

Officiating

Officiating is a topic yet again following the Fever’s Game 4 win. Aces head coach Becky Hammon called out the free throw disparity, saying “a lot of grabbing and holding down (in the paint) that got called one way.” The Aces had 11 free throw attempts, in comparison to the Fever’s 34. Fever center Aliyah Boston had 13 free throws, more than the entire Aces team. The Aces were called for 24 fouls and the Fever 17 fouls.

Game 4 was officiated by Isaac Barnett, Randy Richardson and Jenna Reneau, the same crew that worked the Phoenix Mercury's 84-76 Game 3 win over the Minnesota Lynx. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve ripped the "awful" officiating crew postgame on Friday. The comments and Reeve’s behavior after being ejected for arguing non-calls earned her a Game 4 suspension.

“They shot a lot of free throws. We didn’t,” Hammon added. “I appreciate it was a little tighter call, but tighter on both ends would’ve been nice.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rebuilt Mercury, officiating among WNBA winners and losers

Reporting by Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect