Liberty-Lynx Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Jun 20 2012 5:40PM

After getting off to the best start in WNBA history, the Minnesota Lynx came up short for the first time over the weekend.

They'll try to bounce back Thursday night at home, where they haven't lost since the New York Liberty last came to town.

Minnesota averaged 85.8 points in winning its first 10 games before losing 65-62 at Seattle on Sunday. The Lynx had a chance to send the game into overtime despite trailing by as many as 17 points in the second quarter and shooting 37.5 percent, but Maya Moore missed a deep 3-point attempt as time expired.

"I felt like it was on target, just a little short," Moore said. "With one second, having to inbound it and catch and shoot, I thought it was a great look. But it shouldn't have come down to that."

Moore had a team-high 14 points and Seimone Augustus scored 12 as the Lynx's two leading scorers combined to shoot 10 of 30.

"We felt like there were so many opportunities," Moore added. " ... There were so many things in the entire game that could've changed things. But lesson learned. I think this team will definitely take this one, remember it and use it to help us to be better in the future."

Minnesota now returns home, where it's won 11 straight - including last season's title run - since falling 78-62 to New York on Sept. 2. The Liberty shot 13 of 26 from 3-point range in that game and were led by Leilani Mitchell, who made six 3s and scored 24 points.

New York (4-7) is coming off its fourth win in six games, 73-60 in Atlanta on Tuesday. Cappie Pondexter had 14 points and a season-high 13 assists for the Liberty, who were coming off the most lopsided defeat in franchise history, 97-55 at Connecticut on Friday.

"I brought a great deal of energy tonight, which has been inconsistent with us," Pondexter said. "I feel like when we play with a lot of energy it allows us to play both ends of the floor the way we really want to."

Allowing an Eastern Conference-worst 80.6 points per game, New York held the Dream to 35.3 percent shooting.

"When (Pondexter) plays like she did and we play good team defense, we can win games on the road," coach John Whisenant said. "We demand that she does her part on defense as well as offense. We don't have any other options. She has to perform well for the Liberty to do well. It's that simple."

Leading the team with 18.3 points per game, Pondexter scored a combined 22 on 4-of-26 shooting in two matchups versus Minnesota last season.

New York is 3-1 this year when she scores at least 20 points.

Augustus leads Lynx in 102-70 win over Liberty

Posted Jun 21 2012 11:09PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) It took a quarter to get going, but once they did, the Minnesota Lynx showed that they can recover from a loss just fine.

Seimone Augustus scored a season-high 26 points, rookie Devereaux Peters added a career-best 18, and the Lynx got back on track by beating the New York Liberty 102-70 on Thursday night.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 15 points for Minnesota (11-1), which started the season a WNBA-best 10-0 before losing to Seattle on Sunday.

``We wanted to see how we'd bounce back. I think everybody wanted to see it,'' Augustus said. ``We had a lack of aggression, but in the second quarter, we showed what we can do.''

Cappie Pondexter scored a season-high 30 points to lead the Liberty (4-8). Nicole Powell scored 16 and made all four 3-point attempts as New York lost for the third time in four games.

``This is the hardest team in the WNBA to defend because they have so many offensive weapons,'' Liberty coach John Whisenant said. ``They just spanked us. They played like a WNBA champion.''

Six of the Liberty's losses this season have been by at least 15 points - four by at least 23, including a franchise-worst 97-55 defeat at Connecticut last Friday.

The Lynx have won 12 straight at home since a loss to New York on Sept. 2 last season. The Liberty hit 13 of 26 3-pointers in that game, and it looked like they might have a repeat performance here again.

New York made five of its first six from long distance and jumped to a 28-17 lead early in the second quarter.

Augustus then scored seven points during a 13-0 run that gave the Lynx the lead for good.

``We started flying around, getting deflections and turned the tide a little bit,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. ``We really wanted to respond to that loss in Seattle. We were trying hard. Maybe too hard in the beginning.''

The 32-point win for the defending WNBA champs was their largest margin of victory this season and the fourth time its beat an opponent by 20 or more points.

Leilani Mitchell swished a half-court shot that cut Minnesota's lead to 45-42 at halftime. However, despite Pondexter's best efforts, the Liberty never got closer.

Whenever Pondexter made a shot, Augustus usually answered.

Augustus' 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run that stretched the Lynx's lead to 56-44 with 6:22 left in the third. She had a fallaway baseline hook that rolled around and in and resulted in a three-point play late in the third to increase the lead to 16.

It was also a bounce-back game for Augustus, who made just 17 of her last 44 shots before Thursday.

``She just has that gift to put it in the hole,'' Reeve said. ``She's very prideful. If you slow her down for a few games, she's not going to let it happen again.''

Minnesota also scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push the advantage to 91-63 with 7 1/2 minutes to go.

Minnesota outrebounded New York 49-31 and had assists on 26 of its 36 field goals.

``They had 16 offensives rebounds,'' Whisenant said. ``It's been our nemesis all year. We can play good defense, but if we let the other team get the offensive rebound, it doesn't do us much good.''

• Liberty: --
• Lynx: --

• Liberty: --
• Lynx: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #24 Tony Dawkins, #44 Felicia Grinter
• Attendance: 9050
• Duration: 1:47