LYNX NOTES

• Sylvia Fowles led the way tonight for the Lynx as recorded her sixth double-double of the season (133rd career) and second 20+ point/10+ rebound game of the season after finishing the night 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting including a perfect 5-of-5 from the line, 12 rebounds (season-high-tying eight offensive) and four steals.
• Seimone Augustus added 16 points on 6-of-11 from the line, grabbed four rebounds and had a blocked shot. With her 16 points, Augustus (5,573) passed DeLisha Milton-Jones for 11th all-time on the WNBA scoring list.
• Maya Moore finished with 19 points tonight on 6-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-6 from the line. Moore has scored 15+ in six straight games.
• In her 400th career game, Tanisha Wright added 13 points off the bench in 25:01 of action. Wright added four assists.
• With tonight’s victory, the trio of Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen (155 wins) passed Dixon, Leslie and Mabika (Los Angeles Sparks, 1997-2005) for the most wins in league history as a trio of teammates.
• After tonight’s comeback (trailed by 10 points, 21-11 with 3:18 left in the first quarter), it was the largest deficit (10) the Lynx have overcome to win since rallying from 10 points down to beat Chicago, 87-82, on July 5, 2016 at Target Center.
• The Lynx held a 20-0 advantage in second-chance points over the Mystics tonight. It was the seventh time in franchise Minnesota allowed no second-chance points and second time with season, they’ve score 20+ (22 vs. Dallas on May 23).
• Minnesota outrebounded the Mystics 34-20, its WNBA-leading fifth double-digit edge in eight games so far. In the first meeting this season (May 27th), Washington held a 36-26 advantage on the boards.
• The Lynx outscored the Mystics 20-11 in the fourth quarter, the fewest points they’ve allowed in the fourth this year. In the last meeting, Washington outscored Minnesota 24-10 in the fourth quarter.
• Minnesota will wrap up their season-high-tying three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as the Lynx visit the Connecticut Sun for the first time this season. Tip is set for 1:00 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on BOB 106 FM and can be seen on NBATV.

MYSTICS NOTES

• The Washington Mystics (5-4) lost, 88-80, to the defending-champion Minnesota Lynx (3-5) Thursday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Three Mystics scored in double figures, including guard Natasha Cloud, who totaled a team-high 17 points on 8-18 from the field in her first start of the season. Cloud added a Mystics season-high nine assists.
• The Mystics shot 33-66 (.500) from the field and 10-10 (1.000) from the free throw line.
• Washington tied season highs of 19 assists and nine steals.
• Mystics rookie guard Ariel Atkins (10 points) scored in double figures for the sixth-straight game, shooting 5-12 (.416) from the field.
• Washington outscored Minnesota, 42-32, in the paint, but was outrebounded, 34-20, and lost the second-chance-points battle, 20-0. 20 total rebounds were a season low for Washington.
• In addition to Cloud setting a Mystics season high with nine assists, another pair of season highs were set: forward Elena Delle Donne’s three blocks and guard Kristi Toliver’s three steals.
• The Lynx led the Mystics, 48-42, at half, despite 11 points and four assists from Cloud. Washington shot 19-34 (.559) from the field in the first half, but was outrebounded, 16-9, by Minnesota.
• Washington trailed Minnesota, 27-25, after the first quarter. The Mystics led, 21-11, with just over three minutes left in the opening frame before the Lynx opened up a 24-6 run that extended into the second quarter. Cloud led the Mystics with seven points, shooting 3-3 from the field and 1-1 from 3-point range.

MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT

On the game:
“I thought that the game was played like a playoff game. I thought that early we were good, [but] the fourth quarter the champion Lynx played and we weren’t quite there yet. We made some mistakes [and] I thought we missed some easy shots. I think the biggest thing in the game is an experienced, physical team like them, they ended up with 20 second chance points and we had zero. You can’t have that in a playoff-type game against a team like that. That hurt us, we missed some layups, we had some execution errors and we had some fouling. We probably fouled – I don’t know if we got the calls at the other end in getting fouled ourselves — but we’ve gotten into this mode the last 10 days-or-so of reaching a little bit. It put them at the free throw line and then we’re putting their best free throw shooters at the line, you’re asking for a little bit of trouble. When you have a free throw difference like that – eight difference on the free throw line [18-10 Minnesota] and 20-zip on the offensive boards, that’s a big hole to try and overcome.”

On the difference in the starting five this game:
“I think our pace of the game has been better when Tash [Natasha Cloud] has played. It allows Kristi [Toliver] to play without the basketball some and not have the pressure of having to bring it up every single possession. We’re still not finding enough shots for her and Elena [Delle Donne]. Elena is still not 100 percent, but she tried to give us what she had. LaToya [Sanders] is just one of our best defensive players, and we thought a balance of offense and defense in the starting lineup and pace to the game would help us. Obviously, that part of it worked, we just didn’t sustain it.”

On Elena Delle Donne coming back tonight:
“I don’t know what I expected for minutes. Yesterday we had a good idea that she did a fair amount of practice that she could go in limited minutes at a time. Her 26 minutes tonight were divided up into four or five-minute segments. We were going to see this morning how she came and warmed up and how she felt, and she said she felt that she was good to go, just ‘Coach, take me out every four or five minutes so I can get my breath back.’ She doesn’t have all if her wind back.”

On the atmosphere:
“The atmosphere was great. I would like to have that every night. I hope we made some new fans tonight. I think that people who knew something about us came away with…If you didn’t enjoy that game, then you’re probably not going to be a basketball fan anyway. It was a great basketball game. If you’re a fan, it was an entertaining game. It was played like a playoff atmosphere. I hope a lot of those people decided, ‘Hey, this is a worthy product to come back and see.’”

MYSTICS GUARD NATASHA CLOUD

On when she found out that she was starting tonight:
“We had Monday off, so Tuesday [Coach Mike Thibault] had me in there. I didn’t really know until yesterday. He called my number, so I was ready to start. One through 12, any of us can start in different combinations. I just had to bring my energy that I tend to bring off the bench to the starting group.”

On what was working in the first quarter:
“I think the pace of the game [and] we were spreading the floor out very well, leaving shooters open, leaving the lane open for penetration and kicks, as well as getting stops on the defensive end, which is huge for us moving forward. We need to be a defensive-minded team, because that leads to our transition, which we are much better in, opposed to a set offense. It helps a lot not having to crawl back from a deficit. It was a good start. We need to be able to throw the first punch at every team and let them know, ‘Hey, we’re playing Washington tonight.’”

MYSTICS FORWARD ELENA DELLE DONNE

On the game:
“I feel like our defense picked up. We were able to make them a little bit uncomfortable. We were able to get some steals and get out in transition. That’s when we look really good on offense because we can just spread the floor. But they’re a great team and they’re not going to beat themselves. You really do have to beat them. It’s always a great learning experience playing against them, especially with the fans, it was like we were playing in the playoffs once again. Awesome game to be a part of and learn from.”

On how she felt in her first game back:
“It was decent. I’m just trying to listen to my body each day, try to build it with vitamins [and] supplements. Hopefully, it will continue to feel better. As long as I don’t over-exert too much, I’m hoping I’ll be able to continue to go on the incline and feel better and better every day.”

LYNX HEAD COACH CHERYL REEVE

On getting the win in a tough environment:
“Obviously we were pretty desperate. We had dropped four in a row. The most in this team’s time together, the four or five who have been together. We had a level of desperation. We had a level of want to which was necessary. These guys are hard to guard. Washington is hard to guard. I thought we were pretty gritty, we held them to 11 in the fourth quarter. That was obviously the key to the game.”

On handing out shoes in Washington D.C
“It was such a whirlwind of a day. I did not get to spend much time directly with the players but I was able to watch them and to see the players faces and obviously the kids’ faces, that goes without saying. But to see our players faces and how much they enjoyed what they were doing and they told me today, they all thanked me for the opportunity to do something like that to engage i¬¬¬n something like that and so they said while we have been to the White House three times, they felt like this ranked beyond that the experience meaning it was for them life changing in terms of what they did together. Tremendous organization that we partnered with, the Samaritan’s feet. Fun kids. Kids that were so impressive to us, smart kids, goal driven, tremendous school and so it was just and incredible day.”

LYNX GUARD LINDSAY WHALEN

On whether they relied on their experience to get the win today:
“Every year is new, every season is different so we did not really about any other time other than just getting a win tonight. I felt like the last couple of days of practice and the last week or so even in the games, I felt like we were getting close. You could feel like the momentum was shifting for us, and at some point we knew that we were going to break through and have a really good game together and now it is building on it and making sure we are staying focused, and it was a really good road win for us, tough environment, great team and just happy we were able to come out with the victory.”

On the game feeling like a playoff atmosphere:
“It was a good atmosphere. The crowd was into it. A lot of Mystics fans, a lot of Caps fans, I thought that they definitely showed up and were excited for the game and we played them last year in the playoffs too in the semifinals for us so we know this team well, and they have some great players, so we knew we had to be focused right from the beginning.”

LYNX FORWARD MAYA MOORE

On depending on each other in this game:
“It felt good. It felt like us to be able to overcome the hard moments in the game, to overcome mistakes, to overcome adversity together and we know we always give ourselves a really good chance to execute what we want to do when we are together like that connected with energy and really on the defensive end it shows us more than anything we need to be able to come together and get stops and that is what we were able to do.”

On Natasha Cloud defending her:
“I am used to aggressive defenders every night. It is me so everybody is going to be extremely aggressive on me but she is definitely one of those strong tall guards that is able to try to slow you down with just her activity and her strength so great defenders like her, I have to prepare for setting up my cuts and doing what I can to just shake them and I depend on my post players to set great screens and I expect nothing less from great teams and she is somebody that prides herself on both ends.”