MINNEAPOLIS(AP) Seimone Augustus scored 30 points to help the Minnesota Lynx beat the Los Angeles Sparks 87-76 on Wednesday night.

Candice Wiggins added 17 points for Minnesota (3-0).

"To beat L.A., with that team that they have, that's a great sign for us,'' said Lynx coach Jennifer Gillom, who took over when Don Zierden resigned just days before the season began. "We can beat any team on any given night, so that was a huge stepping stone for us. This team is really starting to believe in themselves.''

Former Lynx player Betty Lennox led the Sparks (1-2) with 25 points.

"As a team, as a whole, we didn't play well, so it doesn't really matter how I played individually,'' said Lennox, the WNBA's 2000 rookie of the year with Minnesota. "We're just not fulfilling our potential right now, but we know it's early.''

The Sparks had a five-point lead late in the third quarter, but Minnesota used a 16-3 run to take a 66-58 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Sparks star center Lisa Leslie fouled out with less than a minute to play in the third. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

"We started loosening up our defense and let some people get some shots that they weren't getting in the first half, and that was the difference in the game,'' Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "For us it's like panic mode right now because it's early in the season and we're supposed to be better than this. We just have to rectify it.''

The Lynx led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter before the Sparks cut the advantage to six at 80-74 with 2:09 to play. Wiggins then hit a pair of free-throws, improving to 14 of 14 for the season, and the Lynx pulled away.

Minnesota opened 5-0 last year, but ended up tying for the worst record in the Western Conference at 16-28.

"Now we know we can play with the best teams, but we know they definitely didn't have their best game,'' Augustus said. "Later on in the season when their chemistry is together, it'll be different. But this definitely gives us a boost.''