Mystics-Lynx Preview

By PAUL DIGIACOMO
Posted Aug 16 2012 11:36PM

After enduring their worst stretch in nearly two years, the Minnesota Lynx were able to go into the Olympic break on a high note thanks to a pair of meetings with the team that owns the fewest wins in the WNBA.

Considering the caliber of their next two opponents, the Lynx have a good chance to rack up a few more victories as they return to the court.

Minnesota welcomes back Olympic gold medalists Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen when it looks for its second straight season sweep of the Eastern Conference-worst Washington Mystics on Friday night.

The Lynx opened defense of their first league title with 13 wins in 14 games before starting July with three straight defeats. It was Minnesota's first three-game losing streak since a five-game skid July 17-29, 2010.

The Lynx, though, caught a break before the WNBA shut down for the London Olympics. They played a home-and-home series with league-worst Tulsa and won those games by an average of 18.0 points.

"A lot of the things we did towards the end - after the little bump of the losing skid that we endured during the first part of the season - I think that as a team we found a lot more cohesion in our defense than we had even when we were winning previously," 41-year-old center Taj McWilliams-Franklin said.

Following this matchup with Washington (4-15), the Western Conference-leading Lynx (15-4) host the Shock on Sunday night after beating them 89-74 in Minnesota in their final game before the break July 12.

Moore matched her career high with 28 points while grabbing 11 rebounds in that meeting, Augustus added 14 points and Whalen scored 11 while dishing out eight assists.

The three players then headed off to participate in the Olympics, where they helped the United States win a fifth straight gold medal.

"We had a lot of fun, we tried to enjoy every moment, tried to put everything into the games," Whalen said. "We all got to do it together, and I feel like we brought a lot to the team. ... We won the gold medal and now we're thrilled to be back and to get things going with the WNBA season here."

Washington returned to league action Thursday night and was outscored 44-28 in the second half of an 84-66 loss at Indiana. Monique Currie had 12 points and seven rebounds while Michelle Snow scored 11 and also grabbed seven boards.

The Mystics beat New York 70-53 to end a 16-game road skid in their last contest before the break July 13, and Snow knows it isn't going to be easy to get past a Lynx team that is 9-1 at home.

"Minnesota's playing unbelievable right now, defending champions," Snow told the Mystics' official website. "Against teams like that you really just have to try to outwork them and work really hard, play smart."

Washington has lost 43 of 53 since the start of the 2011 season.

One of those defeats came to Minnesota at home May 30, when the Lynx blew a 24-point lead before escaping with a 79-77 win as Whalen put back her own miss with a second remaining.

Lynx cruise past Mystics in return from break

Posted Aug 17 2012 11:57PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Seimone Augustus escaped a serious injury, which was the only scare for the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.

The defending champion Lynx raced ahead by 33 points before coasting to a 98-69 victory over the Washington Mystics, getting 20 points in 21 minutes from Augustus.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist left the game midway through the third quarter after spraining her right ankle when she came down on a defender's foot.

``The initial shock was scary,'' Augustus said. ``But after (the trainer) re-taped it and gave me some meds I was fine.''

Maya Moore and Monica Wright scored 17 points each, Rebekkah Brunson added 11 and Lindsay Whalen chipped in 10 points and nine assists to help Minnesota (16-4) win its third straight following a three-game losing streak last month.

Monique Currie, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Crystal Langhorne each scored 12 points for the Eastern Conference-worst Mystics (4-16), who followed up an 18-point loss at Indiana on Thursday with their second-biggest defeat of the season.

``It's tough to start the second half of the season on a back-to-back,'' Washington coach Trudi Lacey said. ``Two very good teams, and obviously Minnesota is very good and very deep.''

Minnesota led by just two midway through the first quarter, but from there looked nothing like a team that hadn't played together in more than a month due to the Olympic break. Wright scored five points during the ensuing 18-2 run and the Lynx led by double figures the rest of the way.

Using suffocating defense, Minnesota held the Mystics to 37 percent shooting and scored a season-high 32 points off 19 Washington turnovers.

``I told our players it was really fun to watch,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. `` It was everything I hoped it could be in that game coming back.''

The Lynx, paced by returning Olympians Augustus, Moore and Whalen, piled up 54 points in the paint and shot 51 percent from the floor.

``I think it really helped that Seimone, Lindsay and I were able to play together, be together, continue to build chemistry and just be on the court with each other,'' Moore said. ``I felt some USA moments there a little bit in transition. Then again, we were doing that before Team USA.''

Minnesota was in the midst of a 16-3 third-quarter run to make the game a blowout when Augustus came down awkwardly at the 4:59 mark. She had the ankle re-taped and could've returned, but wasn't needed with the Lynx ahead by at least 24 points throughout the fourth quarter.

Frustration boiled over for Mystics center Michelle Snow, who received a pair of technical fouls with 4:58 left and was ejected.

Minnesota had a season-high 29 assists.

Augustus, Moore and Whalen, who helped the United States win Olympic gold for the fifth straight time at the London Games, showed off their medals before the game.

• Mystics: --
• Lynx: --

• Mystics: Snow, Snow
• Lynx: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #28 Angelica Suffren, #45 Tom Mauer
• Attendance: 10933
• Duration: 1:53