MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Courtney Williams scored 17 points and Alanna Smith had 15 points to help the Lynx offset an off night for star Napheesa Collier and beat the Connecticut Sun 77-70 to even the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series at one game apiece on Tuesday.
Collier, who scored 80 points in the two-game sweep of Phoenix in the first round, was held to nine points on 3-for-14 shooting. She led the Lynx with 12 rebounds and five assists, content to let her supporting cast lead the charge past a feisty opponent.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Courtney Williams scored 17 points and Alanna Smith had 15 points to help the Lynx offset an off night for star Napheesa Collier and beat the Connecticut Sun 77-70 to even the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series at one game apiece on Tuesday.
Guard Marina Mabrey (4) of the Connecticut Sun drives with the ball as forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx defends during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx battles with forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx drives as forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun defends, during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Guard Courtney Williams (10) of the Minnesota Lynx shoots the ball as forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun defends during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
“We’ve got to match their energy. First game, they was chirping and chatting so you have to give it back to ’em,” Williams said. “Playoff basketball, man.”
Alyssa Thomas had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Sun, who shot just 5 for 20 from 3-point range. DeWanna Bonner scored 17 points and Marina Mabrey added 15 points on 4-for-14 shooting after she had 20 points in the opener.
“We weren’t happy with how we approached the first game. I think we played OK, enough to only lose by 3. We knew that we had to take it to another level and we had to have each other’s backs,” said Smith, who played with Williams for Chicago last year.
Connecticut will host Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. Then Game 5, if necessary, would be in Minnesota on Oct. 8. New York leads defending champion Las Vegas 2-0 in the other semifinal series.
The Lynx never lost consecutive home games this season on their way to a 30-10 record for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and their 73-70 defeat in Game 1 clearly fueled a fierce follow-up in this persistently physical matchup that resembled football at times more than hoops.
Myisha Hines-Allen hit an off-balance bank shot from the corner to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lynx a 36-30 lead and some extra energy to take into the break.
“They were the aggressor tonight. They were aggressive on the defensive end. They were physical. They wouldn't let us get into our offense. They responded to every run, ” Sun coach Stephanie White said.
Smith, the shot-blocking specialist who is on her fourth team in four seasons, has revitalized her career in Minnesota under coach Cheryl Reeve two years after being released by Indiana. She swished a 3-pointer early in the third quarter for a 41-30 lead that triggered a Connecticut timeout.
Williams had 11 points in the third for half of her team’s output, helping tilt the frustration more toward the Sun in the second half after the Lynx had their flustered moments earlier. Reeve won four WNBA titles with a legendary group that's all gone. This is the first true playoff test for the current core.
“I believe to be successful you do have to experience adversity. You have to get through the adversity, go through it, go through the lumps, bumps, all of that to get through the promised land,” Reeve said. “That’s the only way. If it was easy everybody would be doing it.”
The two best defensive teams in the regular season — the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6 — were on full display in a meat grinder of a first quarter in which the first 14 shots misfired and each side had two turnovers in less than four minutes.
Collier saw constant double-teams and started 1 for 6. The Sun did their best to not only deny the four-time All-Star her favorite spots on the floor but get under her skin, too. Mabrey applied some extra force at one point when she and Collier were scrapping for a loose ball near the paint, prompting a stare down between the two stars.
“It’s playoffs, so it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be dicey moments. It’s win or go home,” Bonner said. “Everybody wants it, so emotions are high. It’s just two competitive teams going after it.”
Later in the second quarter, Kayla McBride extended her forearm into Mabrey’s neck as she took a fast break to the basket. McBride was given a technical foul after the two former Notre Dame stars — they missed each other by two years — exchanged words and a bump on the way back.
McBride had 11 points for the Lynx to help lead them back from a 2-for-15 start from the field, even with Collier never finding a rhythm.
“We got into our switches. We tried to make catches difficult. We tried to make shots difficult. But certainly they showed as a team why they’ve been successful. They’re so balanced,” White said. “Yes, we were able to limit Phee, but they got off on the 3-point line and that’s something we have to remedy. We’ve got to keep them off the offensive glass.”
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Forward DeWanna Bonner (24) of the Connecticut Sun nocks the ball from forward Cecilia Zandalasini (9) of the Minnesota Lynx during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Guard Marina Mabrey (4) of the Connecticut Sun drives with the ball as forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx defends during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx battles with forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Forward Napheesa Collier (24) of the Minnesota Lynx drives as forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun defends, during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
Guard Courtney Williams (10) of the Minnesota Lynx shoots the ball as forward Alyssa Thomas (25) of the Connecticut Sun defends during the first half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball semifinals game, at Target Center, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — It's been four months since Sifa Kunguja recovered from mpox, but as a sex worker, she said, she's still struggling to regain clients, with fear and stigma driving away clients who've heard she had the virus.
“It’s risky work,” Kunguja, 40, said from her small home in eastern Congo. “But if I don’t work, I won't have money for my children.”
Sex workers are among those hardest-hit by the mpox outbreak in Kamituga, where some 40,000 of them are estimated to reside — many single mothers driven by poverty to this mineral-rich commercial hub where gold miners comprise the majority of the clientele. Doctors estimate 80% of cases here have been contracted sexually, though the virus also spreads through other kinds of skin-to-skin contact.
Sex workers say the situation threatens their health and livelihoods. Health officials warn that more must be done to stem the spread — with a focus on sex workers — or mpox will creep deeper through eastern Congo and the region.
Mpox causes mostly mild symptoms such as fever and body aches, but serious cases can mean prominent, painful blisters on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
Kunguja and other sex workers insist that despite risks of reinfection or spreading the virus, they have no choice but to keep working. Sex work isn't illegal in Congo, though related activities such as solicitation are. Rights groups say possible legal consequences and fear of retribution — sex workers are subject to high rates of violence including rape and abuse — prevent women from seeking medical care. That can be especially detrimental during a public health emergency, according to experts.
Health officials in Kamituga are advocating for the government to shutter nightclubs and mines and compensate sex workers for lost business.
Not everyone agrees. Local officials say they don't have resources to do more than care for those who are sick, and insist it's sex workers' responsibility to protect themselves.
Kamituga Mayor Alexandre Bundya M’pila told The Associated Press that the government is creating awareness campaigns but lacks money to reach everyone. He also said sex workers should look for other jobs, without providing examples of what might be available.
Miners stream into Kamituga by the tens of thousands. The economy is centered on the mines: Buyers line streets, traders travel to sell gold, small businesses and individuals provide food and lodging, and the sex industry flourishes.
Nearly a dozen sex workers spoke to AP. They said well over half their clients are miners.
The industry is well organized, according to the Kenyan-based African Sex Workers Alliance, composed of sex worker-led groups. The alliance estimates that 13% of Kamituga's 300,000 residents are sex workers.
The town has 18 sex-worker committees, the alliance said, with a leadership that tries to work with government officials, protect and support colleagues, and advocate for their rights.
But sex work in Congo is dangerous. Women face systematic violence that's tolerated by society, according to a report by UMANDE, a local sex-worker rights group.
Many women are forced into the industry because of poverty or because, like Kunguja, they're single parents and must support their families.
The sex workers who spoke to AP described mpox as an added burden. Many are terrified of getting the virus — it means time away from work, lost income and perhaps losing business altogether.
Those who recover are stigmatized, they said. Kamituga is a small place, where most everyone knows one another. Neighbors whisper and tell clients when someone is sick — people talk and point.
Since contracting mpox in May, Kunguja said she's gone from about 20 clients daily to five. When she was sick, the lesions on her genitals were so painful she could hardly walk, hunched over and wobbling to get around. Her 9-year-old son caught it from her, she said — he’s out of the hospital but still has lesions.
She's been supporting her 11 children through sex work for nearly a decade, but said she now can't afford to send them to school. To compensate, she's selling alcohol by day, but it's not enough.
She said she wants the government to subsidize her income so she doesn't have to put herself or others at risk.
Disease experts say a lack of vaccines and information makes stemming the spread difficult.
Some 250,000 vaccines have arrived in Congo, but it’s unclear when any will get to Kamituga. Sex workers and miners are among those slated to receive them first.
Community leaders and aid groups are trying to teach sex workers about protecting themselves and their clients via awareness sessions where they discuss signs and symptoms. They also press condom use, which they say isn't widespread enough in the industry.
Sex workers told AP that they insist on using condoms when they have them, but that they simply don't have enough.
Kamituga’s general hospital gives them boxes of about 140 condoms every few months. Some sex workers see up to 60 clients a day — for less than $1 a person. Condoms run out, and workers say they can’t afford more.
Dr. Guy Mukari, an epidemiologist working with the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Congo, noted that the variant running rampant in Kamituga seems more susceptible to transmission via sex, making for a double whammy with the sex industry.
Even health experts admit the lack of information about the virus makes it unclear how effective condoms are. Lesions are usually found around the base of the penis, an area that condoms don’t cover, they note.
Some women resort to flimsy plastic bags when they can't find condoms, sex worker Irene Mabwidi said. As a leader in her local sex industry group, she said she tries to advise women on other protection measures, such as inspecting clients’ bodies for lesions, though that's far from foolproof.
Erin Kilbride of Human Rights Watch said it’s crucial that sex workers are in the room when the government designs outreach programs.
“The government should proactively reach out to sex worker organizations, at the local and national level, who are experts in what their communities need,” Kilbride said.
Health experts say miners are also key to containing the virus. While mpox is spread mainly through close contact, it can also occasionally spread from the environment via objects or surfaces touched by an infected person, according to the World Health Organization.
There's little awareness of that in mines, where conditions are often unsanitary. Mines have few, if any, handwashing stations, and sometimes miners don’t shower for days. Infected miners might urinate or openly defecate in mines and contaminate water sources, health officials say.
Miners told AP more information and advocacy is needed in mines. Debus Bulambo said he got mpox in February, but sees most fellow miners failing to take the virus seriously. People want to spend cash on sex, even during an epidemic, sometimes paying five times more to go without a condom, he noted. And miners earn a lot — up to about $120 a month, more than double the country’s average annual income.
Bulambo said he occasionally paid for sex in the past but stopped, though he realizes he's the exception.
“People aren’t afraid," he said bluntly. "I don’t understand.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Sex workers listen to a briefing on mpox Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in a bar in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Sex workers participate in an mpox awareness program Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Atumisi Anaclet treats a sex worker who has mpox Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in the general hospital in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A sex worker suffering from mpox, lies down Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in the general hospital in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa
A sex worker suffering from mpox sits in a hospital courtyard Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Miners walk Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Women sell vegetables Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Aerial view of mining in Kamituga, eastern Congo, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Sifa Kunguja, a 40-year-old sex worker, sorts through condoms at home after recovering from mpox Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Sifa Kunguja, a 40-year-old sex worker, sits home after recovering from mpox Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 in Kamituga, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
