After an up-and-down start to their season, the Minnesota Lynx hope their recent success is a sign of something more stable.

The Lynx will look to win their third straight game on Saturday night when they visit the San Antonio Silver Stars - the team they're tied with for second place in the Western Conference.

Coming off back-to-back 10-24 seasons, Minnesota was an unexpected surprise this season after winning its first five games en route to a 6-1 record. But following a 90-78 win over the Silver Stars on June 8, the Lynx (8-6) lost five straight all by single digits.

They've since rebounded with victories in the final two games of a three-game homestand, and will need to snap a three-game road losing streak to continue their recent success.

The Lynx beat Sacramento 80-76 on Thursday, as leading scorer Seimone Augustus had 23 points and rookie Candice Wiggins added 17.

"We challenged our players before the game by telling them if you want to move up and be a team that people take seriously, you have to go toe-to-toe with the best," coach Don Zierden said Thursday. "We are going to make a lot of young mistakes as you saw tonight, but we are getting better each and every game."

Wiggins (17.3 points per game), Nicky Anosike (team-high 6.4 rebounds) and Charde Houston (8.1 points and 4.0 rebounds), continue to log big minutes during their rookie seasons.

The Silver Stars (8-6) are tied with the Lynx, but they've taken the opposite path to that spot. After losing to Minnesota earlier this month, San Antonio won five straight, but have since dropped a home-and-home series to Houston.

Tuesday's 82-81 loss was the Silver Stars' first following six victories at the AT&T Center. They allowed the Comets to shoot 55.6 percent in a 77-71 defeat Thursday, and now the Silver Stars will try to avoid their first three-game slide this season.

Ann Wauters had a season-high 24 points when San Antonio lost to the Lynx earlier this month, but the Silver Stars played that game without leading scorer Sophia Young, who comes in averaging 17.2 points.

They also lost their last two games against the Minnesota last season. All of San Antonio's starters rested in a 81-55 loss to close the 2007 regular season, and Augustus had 29 points in the Lynx's 77-66 road win on June 29.

The Lynx have won eight of their last 11 from the Silver Stars.