Tuesday night’s game at Target Center kind of summed up the season thus far for the Minnesota Lynx.
The Lynx started slow against the New York Liberty but pulled things together to complete a comeback and take the game 85-82 in a nationally televised contest at Target Center in Minneapolis.
The ups and the downs of the game were somewhat of a synopsis of the first half of the season for Minnesota, which officially heads into the All-Star Break following Tuesday’s game.
The Lynx kicked things off in a hole, kind of like the slump they endured to begin the 2018 season.
New York jumped out an early lead over Minnesota in the game on ESPN2, grabbing a 28-20 lead through one frame. From that point on, the Lynx kept chipping away at that deficit until the end.
In the final three quarters, Minnesota held an advantage in each quarter. In the second, the Lynx outscored the Liberty 26-22 to narrow that eight-point New York lead down to four (50-46). A big reason for that was the first-half performance from Sylvia Fowles, who tallied 17 points and five rebounds before the break.
In the third quarter, it was much of the same for Minnesota, which brought the deficit down to just one after holding a 19-16 edge over New York heading into the final quarter.
The Lynx outscored the Liberty 20-16 in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback, in part thanks to a handful of late free throws from Maya Moore. With the game tied at 80-80 with under a minute to go, Moore grabbed a big offensive rebound and got fouled, later sinking two free throws to give Minnesota the lead for good. In the final 15 seconds, Moore hit five free throws to seal the deal for the Lynx.
For the first time this season, all five of Minnesota’s starters finishing in double-figures in scoring.
After her big first half, Fowles tallied her WNBA-leading eighth 20-point, 10-rebound game with 27 points and 11 boards. Seimone Augustus finished behind Fowles in the scoring column with 14 points and five assists, while Moore added 12 points and seven rebounds. Rebekkah Brunson finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Lindsay Whalen had 10 points and four rebounds.
For New York, it was the Tina Charles Show all night. Charles tallied a team-best 32 points and 15 rebounds in 37-plus minutes, shooting 12-of-18 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Former Minnesota Golden Gopher Amanda Zahui B came in behind Charles with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Lynx head into the All-Star Break with a record of 15-10, sitting tied with the Phoenix Mercury (15-10) for third place in the WNBA standings. Minnesota trails the first-place Seattle Storm (19-7) by 3.5 games and the second-place Atlanta Dream (16-9) by one game in the standings.
On Tuesday night at Target Center, the Lynx didn’t let a slow start impact them in the pursuit of becoming victorious as they brought the first half of the 2018 season to a close.
They kept fighting while trying to figure out a way to dig themselves out of a hole — a storyline that has stuck with them for really the entire season.
