Lynx Win Rematch

Two weeks to the day after a season-high 21 turnovers cost Minnesota a home loss at the hands of Western Conference foe Sacramento, the Lynx (8-6) made sure self-inflected mistakes wouldn’t cost them against the Monarchs (6-8) the second time around at Target Center.

Minnesota hit 15-of-17 free throws (88.2 percent) and committed only 12 turnovers on their way to an 80-76 victory over Sacramento Thursday night at Target Center.

After three first-half lead changes, Don Zierden’s team led the entire final 20 minutes of play en route to the victory – although Sacramento did make things interesting. The Monarchs, who beat Minnesota 82-78 in Minneapolis on June 12, got to within two, 75-73, with just over a minute left thanks to Sacramento guard Ticha Penicheiro, but that would be as close as Sacramento would come.

Lynx guard Seimone Augustus, who finished with a game-high 23 points, hit four consecutive free throws – in between a critical Monarchs turnover - in the waning moments to propel Minnesota to its second win in as many games.

"Obviously we gave one away to them a couple weeks back and we just needed this win for (the standings) too. It puts us two games ahead of them and now we go to San Antonio (and) will play for second place (in the conference)," Lynx guard Anna DeForge said.

Two nights after beating the Liberty for the first time at Target Center since 1999, Minnesota beat the Monarchs at home for the first time since 2004. The Lynx had dropped six in a row at home to Sacramento.

We took a look at a few other eye-opening numbers from Thursday’s game:

2
Points by newly-acquired Lynx forward LaToya Thomas in four minutes of action - her first points with Minnesota.

3
Ties Thursday night, all of which came in the first half.

7
Different players that scored in a balanced first quarter for the Lynx. No player on the team scored more than four points in the period. Ten Minnesota players scored on the night, with only Augustus and Wiggins scoring in double figures.

14
Points in the paint by the Lynx in the first quarter. Conversely, Minnesota held Sacramento to just four points inside during the first 10 minutes of play. For the game, the Lynx outscored Sacramento 38-30 in the interior.

17
Points off the bench from Lynx rookie guard Candice Wiggins. Wiggins, who averages 17.3 points per game – good for seventh-best in the WNBA – went 5-of-10 from the field in 28 minutes of work..

20
Team-high points scored Thursday night by Sacramento forward Nicole Powell. Powell is averaging a team-high 12.8 points per game for the Monarchs.