Minnesota Lynx beat Atlanta Dream 101-95; Take a 2-0 series lead in WNBA Finals – Part 1
Back to her usual havoc-wreaking ways, Minnesota Lynx guard forward Seimone Augustus took control when it mattered the most put her side just one victory away from their very first WNBA Championship Trophy.
In the game-2 of the WNBA Finals between Minnesota and Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at the Target Center, Augustus finished big with a team-high 36 points, giving her side a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five WNBA championship series.
Augustus did not even bother about her sore left knee and continued to play with intensity. The 27-year-old guard also grabbed eight rebounds for her team. She was particularly effective in the crucial fourth quarter and ended the night on a brilliant 11
for 14 from the field and 13 for 16 from free throw line.
“The legacy is not complete until you are holding the trophy,'' Augustus said after the game, indicating that she is not done yet.
Lindsay Whalen and Jessica Adair added 13 points each for Minnesota, the league’s best team throughout the entire regular season. Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball twice. The veteran centre however left the
game late in the third period with a sprained right knee. All was not good for Lynx rookie forward Maya Moore, who sat most of the game out due to foul trouble and finished with just eight points.
For Atlanta, Angel McCoughtry once again put on a show. The 6 ft 1 in forward eclipsed her own record in a league finals game, set in the previous season, and erupted with a game-high 38 points. McCoughtry also blocked three shots and ended on 10 for 22
shooting from the floor and 16 for 21 from the line.
She was also not happy with some of the foul calls by officials Sue Blauch, Lamont Simpson and Kurt Walker.
“I just really do not understand a lot of the things being called,'' Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors said of the foul calls.
Lynx’s guard Whalen was however adamant that the game was called fairly and it was the job of the players to play the game rather than complain about the referees.
“However the game is called, you just have to play through it. Whatever the refs are calling, that is what they see and you just have to move on,'' Whalen said while defending the WNBA officials.
Lindsey Harding also had 16 points and seven assist for Dream, which also got 14 points from Iziane Castro Marques and 13 points and seven rebounds from Sancho Lyttle.
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