Atlanta Dream 58 vs. Minnesota Lynx 50 – WNBA Finals Game-2 Halftime Analysis
Forward Angel McCoughtry scored 24 points as Atlanta Dream led the Minnesota Lynx 58-50 at halftime in game-2 of the 2011 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.
Lindsey Harding added ten points while guard forward Iziane Castro Marques contributed eight points till the break.
Seimone Augustus led Minnesota with 19 points. Jessica Adair tallied eight points while Rebekkah Brunson chipped in six. Lynx forward Maya Moore, who averaged 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting shade under 57 percent shooting
from the field in the Conference finals, could not find her rhythm and ended with only three points in the first half of the game.
First Quarter
Minnesota entered the Target centre with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five final series and got off to a impressive start. They scored the first five points of the opening quarter to put some pressure on the visiting team, but Atlanta’s
leading scorer McCoughtry scored the next three points and Sancho Lyttle followed by droving to the rim to tie the game at 5-5.
Atlanta upped their ante in the next couple of minutes and held a 24-20 lead with 53 seconds to go in the first quarter. Adair hit a pair of free throws to pull the Lynx within two, 24-22, but Harding netted four consecutive points
in the last 51 seconds to put the Eastern Conference Champions ahead by 28-22 after one.
Second Quarter
Castro Marques and Harding opened the second quarter on two consecutive jumpers and increased Atlanta’s lead to double digits, 32-22. Minnesota responded with 7-0 run and cut their margin to three, 32-29.
In the ensuing passage, McCoughtry pinned 2 free throws and de Souza hit a jumper to push their lead to 36-29 with 07:13 remaining in the second period.
Lynx responded again though. Monica Wright scored a lay-up and Augustus turned it on with five points in a row, tying the game at 36. However, Atlanta outscored Minnesota 19-10 during the next five minutes of the quarter and stretched
their lead back to double digits, 55-46 with about a minute to go till the break.
Augustus and Taj McWilliams-Franklin combined to cut Atlanta’s lead to five, 50-55; however McCoughtry hit a three-pointer right at the buzzer to make it 58-50 at halftime.
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