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The Minnesota Lynx entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and one of the favorites to win it all after being the top team in the WNBA all season. However, they fell short of their goal for the second consecutive year after losing the semifinal series to the Phoenix Mercury.

Last year, their trophy slipped away in a controversial overtime loss to the New York Liberty in the deciding game. They approached their 2025 campaign as their revenge tour, but a promising year ended in another heartbreak.

"To be close two years in a row and hit adversity situations every time for the people that you love, your sisters, your family, shit f—g hurts," said Kayla McBride during Sunday's postgame press conference. "It's hard, especially when you lay everything out there. As a vet, as someone who is older, I feel everything because I just care about the people around me."

McBride finished Game 4 with a playoff career-high 31 points, but her efforts were not enough. Minnesota entered Sunday's elimination game without star player Napheesa Collier, who injured her ankle in the waning seconds of Game 3. The team was also without head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was suspended for her actions and comments following Collier's injury.

"…I think Phoenix played a hell of a game, a hell of a series," McBride said. "They did what they had to do. It's tough. But I wouldn't trade (my) locker room for anything. I would feel like this 100 times over to be with the people that I'm with. That's why it's painful, because you just want it to keep going, and it's done."

Collier was the favorite to win MVP for most of the season, but a different ankle injury sidelined her for seven games in August, and that injury break coincided with A'ja Wilson leading the Las Vegas Aces on a 16-game winning streak to finish the season. 

WIlson ended up winning her fourth MVP award, but Collier still had a chance to help her team win the title this year. Unfortunately, she had to watch her team get eliminated from the sideline. Minnesota was also playing without one of their top defenders as DiJonai Carrington suffered a season-ending injury during the first round.

Despite the adversity, the Lynx started off Sunday's game as the dominant team and looked like they were going to be able to force a Game 5, but the Mercury stole all the momentum in the fourth quarter.

While the Lynx didn't end the season the way they wanted, there were still some bright spots. Courtney Williams, half of the Studbudz and one of the top contributors for the team this season, wanted to look at the full year in a positive light.

"Honestly, it was a joy," she said. "I don't look at this season and think, 'Oh this is hard because he have a target on our back.' That's what we wanted. We got in the gym and we stacked our days and I mean, we got hit with that injury bug, and, you know, it's just hard. 
But what's for us ain't never gonna miss us. Shoutout to them girls coming out here playing hard-fought basketball and shoutout to us for not giving up."