Lynx-Sky Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Aug 06 2010 1:12PM

Following a second straight difficult win, the Minnesota Lynx feel like they're becoming more resilient.

That newfound toughness will be put to the test over the regular season's final two weeks.

The Lynx try to match a season high with a third consecutive victory when they open a daunting portion of the schedule Saturday against the struggling Chicago Sky.

After playing eight of its previous nine games at home, six of Minnesota's final nine will be on the road. The Lynx (9-16), in the mix with San Antonio and Los Angeles for one of the Western Conference's final playoff spots, have lost three straight road games and are 3-8 away from Minnesota.

"We have nine games left," rookie Monica Wright told the Lynx's official website. "So we definitely want to take advantage of them and we just want to end off on a good note."

Minnesota heads into this final stretch with some momentum. After ending Seattle's 13-game winning streak with a 72-71 victory Sunday, the Lynx defeated Connecticut 111-103 in overtime Tuesday.

Minnesota, which hasn't won three straight since June 18-22, looked like it would coast to an easy victory over the Sun, leading by 30 midway through the second quarter. Connecticut came charging back, though, and sent the game to overtime on Renee Montgomery's 3-pointer as time expired.

Lindsay Whalen then helped the Lynx avoid a stunning defeat, scoring 10 of her season-best 27 points in the extra frame.

"We knew we had to come out and still focus and win," said Whalen, who also matched a season high with 12 assists. "It shows that we're learning from some of our earlier mistakes and hopefully turning the corner on winning some of these close ones."

Prior to winning its last two games, Minnesota had lost five straight with three defeats coming by three points or fewer.

The Sky (12-16) have also been on wrong end of several close games lately, significantly hurting their playoff chances.

With an 82-77 loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Chicago dropped the final four contests of a season-high five-game road trip. Three defeats were by five points or fewer for Chicago, which is last in the East with six games left.

The Sky trailed the Sparks 76-75 with 54.3 seconds to play, but couldn't get any closer. Jia Perkins, who missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, finished with a team-high 16 points.

"It's unfortunate for us,'' Chicago coach Steven Key said. "We knew a month ago that every game was going to be a 'must' win.''

The Sky, who are trying to avoid losing five consecutive games for the first time since June 13-26, 2008, defeated Minnesota 73-58 on May 29. Sylvia Fowles led Chicago with 18 points, while Whalen scored 11 for the Lynx despite missing 10 of 12 field goals.

Augustus helps Lynx rally past Sky in OT

Posted Aug 07 2010 7:19PM

CHICAGO (AP) Seimone Augustus scored 27 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 26.9 seconds left in overtime to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 87-82 victory over the Chicago Sky on Saturday.

Lindsay Whalen had 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, Charde Houston added 17 points and Monica Wright added 11 to help the Lynx (9-16) rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Jia Perkins led Chicago (12-16) with 16 points and Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dominique Canty added 13 points and Tamera Young scored 10.

Augustus' jumper with 1 minute left in OT gave the Lynx an 80-79 lead. Fowles made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score about 20 seconds later.

After Augustus' go-ahead 3, Fowles made a layup to pull the Sky to 83-82 with 19.3 seconds to go. Whalen then made two free throws 3 seconds later to put Minnesota up by three again.

Perkins missed a potential tying 3 with 10.9 seconds remaining. Whalen got the rebound and was fouled by Canty, and made two more from the line to seal the win.

Chicago was 1 for 13 from the field in the fourth quarter, and finished 26 for 70 (37 percent) overall.

Trailing 66-56 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Lynx went on a 17-2 run. Houston had five points during the spurt, and Whalen and Augustus four each. Nicky Anoskie's layup with 6:16 to go put Minnesota ahead 69-68.

Perkins hit a jumper with 3:31 remaining - Chicago's only field goal of the fourth quarter - to cut the deficit to 73-70. Fowles made one free throw and Canty hit two to tie the score with 2 1/2 minutes left, and neither team scored again in regulation.

• Lynx: --
• Sky: --

• Lynx: --
• Sky: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #18 Kurt Walker, #44 Felicia Grinter, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 4992
• Duration: 2:25