A game always has two halves and Minnesota Lynx made the most of that fact as they came back from behind to defeat Atlanta Dream in double overtime....
On Friday night, after a dismal first half, Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus helped turn things around in the second as Minnesota Lynx lasted out Atlanta Dream 97-93 in two overtimes at the Target Center.
Moore managed to score 19 of her 23 points in the second half on her way to a double-double performance as she collected 12 rebounds as well. At the same time, Augustus scored 12 of 14 points in the second half before going out
with injury.
Rebekkah Brunson was another Minnesota player with double-double figures of 15 points and 18 rebounds with 10 of them coming at the offensive end. Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen also made strong contributions by managing
15 and 13 points respectively.
From the other side, Angel McCoughtry came off the bench to lead Atlanta's charge with 30 points while Lindsey Harding chipped in with 23 points and 7 assists. Tiffany Hayes also chipped in with 16 points.
Minnesota shot the ball 42.9% from the field and despite turning the ball on 19 occasions, made the most of their chances, especially in their second half.
Atlanta got off to a good start in the game as they held a 14-3 advantage early and went on to further prolong their lead to 25-11 by the end of the first quarter. They started the second quarter in similar fashion coming out with
a 6-2 run.
On the other end, Minnesota, were finding it very hard to find their rhythm and continued to struggle throughout the first half. Some retribution did come Minnesota’s way late as they went into the breaking having put together
a 6-2 run.
However, a game of basketball always has two halves and that is exactly what the Lynx coach, Cheryl Reeve believed in as she inspired her team with a team-talk at the interval.
"I was really appreciative at halftime that they weren't going to quit,’’ Reeve said. "Not a thing went our way in the first half ... and we were determined to make our breaks in the second half.''
Minnesota scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and starting making their way back into the game. And by the closing stages of the stanza had managed to pull within 6 points but Harding made a driving layup to give Atlanta
an 8 point lead.
With the momentum on their side, Minnesota, continued to cut the lead down and by the 4:38 mark of the final quarter, were successful in leveling up proceedings. The scores remained level until the final buzzer requiring an extra
period to be played out.
Minnesota pulled ahead with a 5-2 run and held a 2 point lead in the closing seconds only to see McCoughtry make a driving layup in the dying moments to send the game into second over time.
Things remained level for most part of the second extra period. However, Minnesota scored the final 4 points of the ball game to finally put the game to bed and recorded an astonishing come from behind victory.
Tags: