A Look at the Lynx: Connecticut, June 13

#6 posting 6.14.2007
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MINNESOTA lynx 77, CONNECTICUT sun 73, overtime

The Minnesota Lynx survived a 13-4 run in the fourth and held on to beat Connecticut in overtime for their second WNBA win of the year. This game was a grinder with both teams under the 90 pp100 mark. Defense did step up with Svetlana Abrosimova notching 10 defensive stops.
1. STARTS: Connecticut had the slight advantage here looking at the first five possessions of each quarter & overtime 25-22. The Sun did rise fast in the first quarter with a 5/6 possession string.
2: FINISHES: Minnesota delivered the best at the end of quarters with a 24-18 advantage. The Lynx held CT to 0/5 at the end of the second quarter and a 1/5 finish in overtime. CT's pp100 was 72, MN 96. Big plus.
3. DROUGHTS & RUNS. As you can imagine the runs were very limited in this contest with only one above five and that belonged to Connecticut with six in the fourth quarter 13-4 cutting a six point deficit to a three point lead.
However the Sun were scorched by two droughts. One last 7 possessions between the end of the first, beginning of the second; and the other lasting 8 possessions between the end of the second and beginning of the third. Combined MN outscored CT 19-0 during those stretches. On the other side of the fence MN had a 7 possession drought in the first, but CT only managed to outscore the Lynx 4-0 during that span. So MN +/- on this issue comes in at +15--a huge differential.
4. LIMITING LAY UPS & GOING TO THE LINE: MN also won the lay up war with 14 to CT's 12. This also may have been a factor in the free throw line. CT may not have been as aggressive in attacking the basket. They only cashed in for six free throws, while MN cashed in for 16, another advantage of +10 differential.
5. TIME OUT EXECUTON: This was basically a wash. MN did take their first time out in the first half to stop the bleeding at 14-5. They took it on the defensive side and did get the stop, but didn't get a score after so I give this a neutral rating. In the 4th MN took their second TO and failed to score & CT scored on their next possession, a negative result on this TO. The Lynx burned tow at 14 and 4 seconds at the end of regulation. The 14 second gets a neutral rating, the 4 second is in the negative category as the Lynx missed the shot and the game went to overtime. Their last time out is a postive with Augustus cashing in at the line twice on to get the final margin 77-73.

It was a good, gritty, grind it out win for MN. The offensive numbers that mattered at the end of the game was the 77-73. If they can maintain that defensive performance and increase their offensive output, the Lynx might be able to make some waves. They are not that far off.

MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Nicole Ohlde 18, 20, 90.0, .450
Svetlana Abrosimova 4, 8, 50.0, .250
Lindsey Harding 11, 18, 61.1, .333
Seimone Augustus 28, 22, 127.3, .636
Kristin Mann 7, 7, 100.0, .429
BENCH
Katherin Ress 1, 3, 33.3, .333
Tiffany Stansbury 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Eshaya Murphy 6, 4, 150.0, .750
Noelle Quinn 0, 2, 0.0, .000
team 0, 1, 0.0, .000

CONNECTICUT
STARTERS
Margo Dydek 4, 8, 50.0 .250
Nykesha Sales 15, 13, 115.4, .538
Katie Douglas 13, 15, 86.7, .400
Asiha Jones 22, 21, 104.8, .524
Lindsey Whalen 10, 14, 71.4, .357
BENCH
Erika Desouza 2, 4, 50.0, .250
Kristen Rasmussen 5, 8, 62.5, .250
Kamesha Hairston 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Megan Mahoney 0, 1, 0.0, .000
Jamie Carey 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Evanthia Maltsi 0, 0, 0.0, .000

TRENCH PLAYER
Seimone Augustus

BY THE NUMBERS
Minnesota 77, 87, 88.5, .448
Connecticut 73, 87, 83.9, .402
made 3s: CT 3, MN 1
made fts: MN 16, CT 6
assists: MN 24, CT 23
bench: MN 9, CT 9

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
MINNESOTA
Svetlana Abrosimova 10
Lindsey Harding 8
Nicole Ohlde 6
Seimone Augustus 5
Kristen Mann 4
Eshaya Murphy 3
Tiffany Stansbury 1
Noelle Quinn 1
totals: 38

CONNECTICUT
Asiha Jones 10
Margo Dydek 6
Nykesha Sales 5
Katie Douglas 5
lindsey Whalen 4
Erika Desouza 2
Kristen Rasmussen 2
Kamesha Hairston 1
Evanthia Maltsi 1
totals: 36

Next up: tomorrow morning