Lynx Notes

• Rebekkah Brunson (451 games) passed Becky Hammon for 10th all-time in WNBA history for games played. Brunson finished with seven points, five rebounds and three assists tonight.
• The 57 points scored by the Lynx are the lowest since falling 65-55 at Seattle on June 24, 2011. Minnesota hasn’t won when its scored fewer than 60 points since 2004 (25 straight losses).
• After starting the game 0-of-5 from the field in the first quarter, Sylvia Fowles finished with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Led by Cecilia Zandalasini’s nine points off the bench, the Minnesota bench finished with 22 points. Danielle Robinson stuffed the stat sheet tonight, adding six points, four rebounds and a team-high six assists in 24:03 off the bench.
• Minnesota completes the season-series with Los Angeles, falling 3-1 overall and have now lost three straight in Los Angeles.
• The Lynx travel to Seattle to face the Storm tomorrow night. Tip is set for 9:00 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on BOB 106 FM and can be seen on NBATV.

Quotes:

Sparks Center Candace Parker On rebounding from team’s struggles at home “I think it was huge for us to come out this way to start after losing five straight at home. Obviously, we know the rivalry with Minnesota. It got chippy out there and I think we rose to the occasion. This was a big win for us, not only just because things are tight, but also just to get the tiebreaker against them as well.”

On team’s defensive effort and holding Lynx to season-low 57 points “I think, defensively, we were on point. We were helping each other, we didn’t give them anything easy. Even when they scored, it was worked for. I think, for us, that’s what we need to do and want to do. We wanted to finish it with a rebound and limit them on the boards as well.”

On defensive strategy against Sylvia Fowles “She’s a great player, so really it’s about making things tough for her. She’s a beast down there; she gets you low. You don’t want her to catch it, but you can’t front her. If you front her and they shoot it, rebounding wise, it’s tough to block her out, so she’s a tough guard.”

Sparks Forward Nneka Ogwumike On returning to the lineup with Alana Beard “I missed a bit, but I wanted to come back with as much intensity and aggressiveness as I could. It was great to have both Alana and me back out there. I practiced a couple days, felt great. I was just happy that we were able to sustain the energy that we started with.”

On what team needs to sustain going forward “We helped each other today, on defense especially. We had a lot of situations where we had to rotate and we rotated aggressively. We rotated assuredly, and I think that helps people not play with hesitation.”

On Chelsea Gray’s performance “That’s what we know. That’s what we know from Chelsea. I think it’s our job to make her job easy. It’s still a very challenging job, but she does it so well, so it’s our responsibility to make sure that she’s able to flow and play in her comfort zone.”

Sparks Coach Brian Agler On Minnesota having a low point total “[Minnesota was] in a dilemma where they got a back-to-back. You got to make a decision, ‘Do we want to spend all of our gas tonight trying to win coming out of deficit or do we say let’s get ready for tomorrow?’ So that’s why they subbed the way they did especially in that third and fourth quarter.”

On the competitiveness of WNBA standings “I think everyone knows that there’s a sense of urgency that every game is sort of a playoff game. Every time someone wins or loses, the whole standings adjust. We just have to take as many wins as possible.”

On having Nneka Ogwumike and Alana Beard back “They’re the heart and soul of the team with regard to the intangibles. You sort of know what they bring to the table. There’s going to be a lot of energy, a great amount of focus, great effort on the defensive end especially. It’s hard to replace that.”

Lynx Forward Maya Moore On whether all-star break affected team’s performance “All-star is all-star. We go out and give a lot of effort for our fans and then we start the season again, so we just have to be ready to play at every moment that we’re on the court.”

On what team needed to do better tonight “We could have been harder to play against defensively. We wanted to make it a little bit harder for them to score in the paint. Had some shots we normally knock down, but I think our defensive flow really helps us have momentum offensively, so it just made it hard and LA wanted to come out and get a home win, so they played with the intensity that they needed to.”

Lynx Center Sylvia Fowles On Alana Beard and Nneka Ogwumike returning to Sparks’ lineup and playing to her expectations “Yes. I believe so. I think they lost five straight at home, so we knew they were going to come out and be aggressive. Actually, this gave Nneka and Alana time to rest and recover, and I think they did a really good job for their team tonight.”

On counteracting Los Angeles’ size and versatility on switches “Knowing what their go-to moves are. It is kind of difficult switching on their bigs because they step out behind the three-point line, so at that point once you get switched off you have to play the player to a tee, so you just go from there.”

Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve On Sparks’ performance “LA played great. They lost five games in a row at home, and had a sense of urgency about them. They played great.”

On player performance during the game “When it’s open in there, you can go and ask them what happened. I don’t know, I just coach them. What happened to them? I don’t know.”

On the team standings this season with so many teams close in the standings “I don’t like anything about it. I liked it when it was Minnesota and LA. I don’t like anything about it. I think it’s great for fans. I like it better when Minnesota and LA were top two.”