Minnesota Lynx rout Los Angeles Sparks 85-72; Take the winning streak to four – WNBA Recap
On Tuesday night, Minnesota Lynx notched up an 85-72 triumph over Los Angeles Sparks at Target Center to record their fourth victory on a trot. In addition to that, Minnesota forced 25 turnovers, and with 35 points scored off those,
they set a new franchise record.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of her team record, "I was really happy with the fact that we turned them over 25 times -- 17 times in the first half," "We like to score off of that."
Seimone Augustus led Minnesota with 22 points on a 10 for 17 shooting from the field. Lindsay Whalen dished out a game best seven assists and scored 16 points in the victory. Taj McWilliams-Franklin racked up 14 points, shooting
6 for 11 from the field, grabbed nine rebounds, dealt out four assists and had three steals for Minnesota. All-Star forward Rebekkah Brunson added just six points and six rebounds before fouling out with her second technical foul in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles’ Kristi Toliver led all scorers with 28 points but it was not enough to overcome Lynx. Toliver shot 9 for 14 from the field, including 4 for 6 beyond the arc, and was 6 for 9 from the line. Ebony Hoffman was the second
leading scorer in Sparks’ third straight defeat with 24 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Forward DeLisha Milton, who is averaging 11.7 points per game so far in this season, could not add even a single point in loss.
Minnesota shot 50 percent (36- for 72) from the field and 80 percent (12 for 15) from free throw line. Los Angeles, on the other hand, shot just 46.4 percent (26 for 56) from the floor and 68.4 percent (13 for 19) from the line.
Lynx crushed the hosts on fast break points, 18-4, and in the points in the paint, they led 48-30.
A lopsided game for much of the stretch, saw Lynx’ lead by as many as 22 points. Minnesota opened the first quarter on a 6-0 run and carried a 12-point lead, 28-16, into the second. They stretched their lead to 13 points, 43-30,
at halftime.
In the third quarter, Los Angeles mounted a fight back and trimmed their deficit to five points, 49-44, before Minnesota reeled off a 20-10 run to push their lead to 69-54 at the end of quarter. Lynx maintained their double-digit
lead in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
After a defeat in the season opener, Lynx are looking better after each game they play and are currently heading both conferences of WNBA. Their next stop is at Target Center, against the Seattle Storm on Friday, July 29.
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