Minnesota Lynx romp to the WNBA Finals; Atlanta Dream square the series: September 25 Review
Two games took place in women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) on Sunday, September 25, 2011. In the game-2 of the Western Conference Finals, Minnesota Lynx ended Phoenix Mercury’s season, taking them out in 2 games in
a best of three series. In the East though, Atlanta Dream took the series decider to Indianapolis by humbling Indiana Fever on a night when their ace star and reigning league MVP received an injury scare.
Here is a brief review of the two games:
Atlanta Dream 94 – Indiana Fever 77
At Philips Arena, Iziane Castro Marques erupted with a season-high 30 points on a13 for 22 shooting from the field as Atlanta Dream tied the three game series at 1-all with a 94-77 victory over Indiana Fever.
“I was just much focused today,” Castro Marques said after the game. “I knew the importance to step into the line-up. Once I made a couple of shots, I kept going. I thought 'this is my night.”
Angel McCoughtry posted 27 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists and stole the ball four times while Sancho Lyttle, Armintie Price and Lindsey Harding added 10 points each in the win.
Katie Douglas led Fever with 25 points, hitting 5 of 6 from three-point range, dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball twice. Jessica Davenport came off the bench with 12 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown had
11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the defeat.
Atlanta went 39 for 71 (54.9 percent) from the field and limited the visiting team to only 39.2 percent (29 for 74).
McCoughtry scored 13 of her points in the opening period as Atlanta carried a 34-25 lead into the second quarter. Indiana bounced back in the second period and trimmed their deficit to four, 55-51, at halftime. Dream however limited
Indiana to 14 points in the third quarter and pushed their lead to 73-65. They then maintained their double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, keeping their hopes alive of defending the Eastern Conference crown.
Minnesota Lynx 103 - Phoenix Mercury 86
Taj McWilliams-Franklin punctuated a season-high 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds as Minnesota Lynx qualified for the WNBA finals for the first time in franchise history with a 103-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury.
Maya Moore also added 21 points and Lindsay Whalen ended up with 18 points. Seimone Augustus totalled 16 points, Rebekkah Brunson chipped in 12 points and Jessica Adair came off the bench with 10 points.
DeWanna Bonner led Phoenix with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Diana Taurasi also tallied 22 points in the losing effort. Candice Dupree also had 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Minnesota shot 54.2 percent from the field while limiting the Mercury to only 43.4 percent. They held a 24-20 after first quarter but Mercury fought back in the second and went ahead by 45-43 at halftime.
Lynx turned up the intensity after the break and outscored Phoenix 27-20 in the third quarter to carry a 70-65 lead into the last quarter. Phoenix did get within three early in the fourth but Minnesota sprinted late to complete
a two-game sweep in the Western Conference finals.
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