WNBA Playoffs 2011 – Top ten games of the post season: Part 3
Western Conference Finals Game-1: Minnesota Lynx 95 – Phoenix Mercury 67
On September 22, Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the WNBA Western Conference Finals at the Target Center. The game which was expected to be a scoring extravaganza panned out to be a complete mismatch as Lynx continued their march towards WNBA glory with a magnificent 95-67 win.
Five Lynx players reached double figures that night. Seimone Augustus totalled a team-high 21 points and dished out seven assists while rookie Maya Moore ended with 15 points and seven rebounds. Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Candice Wiggins added 14 points each; forward Rebekkah Brunson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.
Diana Taurasi headed Mercury with 22 points while Marie Ferdinand-Harris came off the bench with 12 points. DeWanna Bonner also contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the defeat.
Minnesota were hot on the offense and shot 50.0 percent (36 for 72) from the field and 89.5 percent (17 for 19) from free throw line. They choked the visiting team to just 35.7 percent (25 for 70) shooting from the floor.
“I am really happy we were able set the tone with our defense,'' Wiggins said of their defensive play. “ When you are dealing with a team like Phoenix and Diana and Penny Taylor, they are just so offensively gifted. When you are able to win with your defense, it feels good.”
The league best Minnesota opened the game on a 10-3 run to take an early lead and then continued to roll throughout the game.
Eastern Conference Finals Game-2: Atlanta Dream 94 – Indiana Fever 77
Iziane Castro Marques posted a season-high 30 points on a 13 for 22 shooting from the field as Atlanta Dream beat the Indiana Fever 94-77 on September 25 at the Philips Arena to tie the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.
Forward Angel McCoughtry had 27 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in the victory. Atlanta’s Sancho Lyttle, Armintie Price and Lindsey Harding also chipped in 10 points each.
Katie Douglas led Phoenix with 25 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals while Jessica Davenport had 12 points off the bench. The defending Eastern Conference champions shot 54.9 percent from the field and limited Phoenix to only 39.2 percent.
McCoughtry provided the spark in the first quarter, scoring 13 points as Atlanta carried a 34-25 lead into the second. In the second quarter, Dream continued to play with focus and maintained a 51-42 lead with 02:15 to go in the quarter. Indiana however reeled off a 9-4 late run and trimmed their deficit to 55-51 at halftime.
However Dream were at it again in the third and led by as much as 12 before Phoenix scored the last four points of the quarter to come within eight. Mercury however had no answer to Atlanta’s surge down the stretch. Dream took a double digit lead early and then maintained it to keep their hopes of a second consecutive WNBA Finals appearance alive.
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