Despite a hugely impressive performance from DeWanna Bonner, the Mercury dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in Minnesota Thursday, 60-67.

Bonner finished with a game-high 21 points including four three-pointers along with a game-high five assists. Lack of controlling the boards, however, doomed the Mercury; Phoenix was out-rebounded 44-30 on the night.

“That’s why we lost,” Bonner said after the game. “Rebounds. It goes for everybody — the guards, forwards and centers. We need to do a much better job of that in Game 2 in Phoenix. We need to play with more heart and passion, especially in front of our home crowd.”

Phoenix got off to a hot start behind a 21-14 opening quarter, but the roles were reversed in the second quarter with the Lynx outscoring the Mercury 21-11.

Still, the Mercury trailed Minnesota by only three at the half.

In the third and fourth quarters, the Lynx were the aggressors on the boards and never let the Mercury get into much of a rhythm offensively. Phoenix shot just 33-percent from the floor and allowed 13 offensive rebounds for Minnesota. Rebekkah Brunson was an absolute monster on the boards for the Lynx finishing with 19 total while Candice Dupree led Phoenix with 12.

“We’re a much better offensive team than we showed tonight,” Sandy Brondello said. “We need to do a better job of keeping the ball moving. Credit to Minnesota for their defense, but there’s certainly things we could have done better.”

Bonner was the only player to score in double-figures for the Mercury.

“No excuses,” Brittney Griner said. “We all have to step up. We’re heading back to Phoenix and we have to play better as a team. We’ve been resilient this season and we have to show that on Sunday.”

The good news is that the Mercury held the Lynx to just 39-percent shooting and just 18-percent from the three-point line. As a general rule, Phoenix played pretty good defense (Maya Moore was 7-of-20 from the field). However, as Brondello emphasized after the game, there was a key component missing for the Mercury.

“We didn’t finish the play,” Brondello said. “We played solid defense but we didn’t rebound the ball. We have to get a body on someone, box out and be aggressive.”

Game 2 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals is in Phoenix at US Airways Center on Sunday, September 27 at noon.