Storm-Lynx Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jul 15 2011 11:01PM

The Seattle Storm have been up and down since losing reigning league MVP Lauren Jackson. When it comes to playing on the road, though, they've mostly been down.

The Storm will try to improve on their poor record away from home when they continue a three-game trip Saturday night against the Minnesota Lynx.

Seattle (7-5) dropped to 4-3 without Jackson, who has been out since late June with a hip injury, after suffering a 69-66 defeat at San Antonio on Thursday.

The Storm cut the Silver Stars' lead to one twice in the final 30 seconds but were unable to pull ahead.

"We did have a rough shooting night, and we still had a chance to win," guard Sue Bird said. "I think that speaks to our toughness and our defense. We always give ourselves a chance, and tonight it just didn't work out for us. We were right there; it just didn't work out."

Tanisha Wright scored 18 points and Swin Cash added 13, but Bird, who along with Cash was named an All-Star starter Thursday, was held to 10 points after averaging 19.3 in the previous four.

Seattle fell to 2-4 on the road, where it plays five of its next six. The Storm are averaging 67.0 points on the road compared to 77.2 at home.

Seattle's first game without Jackson, a three-time league MVP whom the team hopes can return before the end of the regular season, was against Minnesota on June 24. The Storm won 65-55 behind 16 points from Camille Little.

The Lynx handed the Storm their only home loss of the season in the first meeting, 81-74 on June 9.

Minnesota (8-4) has won three of four and will be playing on consecutive nights for the first time following an 80-70 win at Indiana on Friday.

The Lynx snapped the Fever's seven-game winning streak as Rebekkah Brunson scored 20 points and Maya Moore added 18.

Minnesota gave up 112 points in a loss to Phoenix on Wednesday that dropped it out of first place in the Western Conference but was much better defensively Friday. The Lynx allowed 22 points in the first quarter before settling down and holding Indiana to 29 after halftime.

"The biggest thing for us was that we finally locked down and defended in the second half," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We were disappointed with how well we let the Fever move the basketball, we thought they really had their wheels rolling."

Brunson, averaging 11.6 boards, had eight to help Minnesota outrebound the Fever 38-26. She struggled in the loss to the Storm last month, finishing with two points and seven rebounds.

Augustus leads Lynx in 69-62 win over Storm

Posted Jul 16 2011 11:42PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Through one quarter, Seimone Augustus had taken just one shot and the Minnesota Lynx were struggling to find a rhythm.

Those struggles didn't last long.

Augustus scored 19 points and the Lynx took over the game with a 22-2 run and, then held on to beat the defending champion Seattle Storm 69-62 on Saturday night.

The Lynx started the game looking to take advantage of a Seattle team missing its two top inside threats, but once the Storm adjusted to that strategy, Augustus found room to work on the perimeter and slash to the basket.

``I think we just started to run our offense, be more efficient and get the ball in places that made it tough for Seattle,'' Augustus said. ``I just kind of played off of them. Our main thing tonight was to get the ball into the post and have Rebekkah (Brunson) and Taj (McWilliams-Franklin) go to work down there. (The defense) started to collapse and they kicked it out so I just played off of them.''

Brunson added 16 points for Minnesota (9-4), while Lindsay Whalen scored 13. Rookie Maya Moore was held to just 7 points on 3-of-7 shooting but she grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.

Tanisha Wright scored 18 points to lead Seattle (7-6), while Swin Cash had 16 and Sue Bird added 15.

The Storm were playing without three-time MVP Lauren Jackson, who is recovering from hip surgery, and Camille Little missed the game for personal reasons. But the Lynx appeared a step slow after playing in the highest-scoring regulation game in league history on Wednesday, then winning at Indiana on Friday night.

``They did a nice job limiting our number of possessions and we really had to grind that thing out,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. ``Doing it back-to-back, it was one of those things . by one or by 21, just win the game.''

At one point it appeared the Lynx would cruise to a comfortable victory. After Bird hit consecutive 3s to put Seattle ahead 24-23 with 6:23 to play in the first half, Augustus followed with a pair of jumpers that started a 12-2 Minnesota run to close out the half.

The Lynx then expanded the run by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter. Seattle hit just 1 of 18 shots over that span and fell behind by as much as 21 before mounting their comeback.

``We can't go into those lulls because it gives teams opportunities to get big leads on us,'' Bird said. ``Even though we do come back, it's a lot of energy to do that and then sometimes it's difficult to get over the hump, tying it or taking the lead. We're definitely aware of that. We've just got to have a little more focus.''

The Storm eventually recovered from the big Minnesota run and pulled to 63-57 on a three-point play by Wright with 2:39 to play. They had a chance to cut the lead even further, but Moore stripped the ball from Bird on a fastbreak, Whalen hit two free throws and Minnesota led by eight with 36.1 seconds to go.

After another defensive stop by the Lynx, Whalen converted two more free throws to secure Minnesota's second straight win and sole possession of second place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Phoenix.

In doing so, the Lynx got back to doing what they do best, playing defense. After giving up a season-high 112 points in a loss to Phoenix on Wednesday, Minnesota clamped down and limited Indiana to 70 points on Friday before holding Seattle to just 62 on Saturday.

Reeve said the team's defensive performance against Phoenix was a wake-up call.

``Some losses loom large for a team, and for us . it's not who we want to be,'' she said. ``Sometimes that has to happen to you to really make that recognition. I thought we had a great deal of emphasis on our defense, a lot of focus on it. Two games of pretty good D, so we kind of got back to who we are.''

• Storm: --
• Lynx: --

• Storm: --
• Lynx: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #18 Kurt Walker, #9 Denise Brooks, #25 Marcus Clayton
• Attendance: 7733
• Duration: 1:50