LYNX NOTES
— Sylvia Fowles led the way tonight for the Lynx as recorded her sixth
double-double of the season (133rd career) and second 20+ point/10+
rebound game of the season after finishing the night 21 points on
8-of-15 shooting including a perfect 5-of-5 from the line, 12 rebounds
(season-high-tying eight offensive) and four steals.
— Seimone Augustus added 16 points on 6-of-11 from the line, grabbed four
rebounds and had a blocked shot. With her 16 points, Augustus (5,573)
passed DeLisha Milton-Jones for 11th all-time on the WNBA scoring list.
— Maya Moore finished with 19 points tonight on 6-of-15 shooting,
including 6-of-6 from the line. Moore has scored 15+ in six straight
games.
— In her 400th career game, Tanisha Wright added 13 points off the bench
in 25:01 of action. Wright added four assists.
— With tonight’s victory, the trio of Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore and
Lindsay Whalen (155 wins) passed Dixon, Leslie and Mabika (Los Angeles
Sparks, 1997-2005) for the most wins in league history as a trio of
teammates.
— After tonight’s comeback (trailed by 10 points, 21-11 with 3:18 left in
the first quarter), it was the largest deficit (10) the Lynx have
overcome to win since rallying from 10 points down to beat Chicago,
87-82, on July 5, 2016 at Target Center.
— The Lynx held a 20-0 advantage in second-chance points over the Mystics
tonight. It was the seventh time in franchise Minnesota allowed no
second-chance points and second time with season, they’ve score 20+ (22
vs. Dallas on May 23).
— Minnesota outrebounded the Mystics 34-20, its WNBA-leading fifth
double-digit edge in eight games so far. In the first meeting this
season (May 27th), Washington held a 36-26 advantage on the boards.
— The Lynx outscored the Mystics 20-11 in the fourth quarter, the fewest
points they’ve allowed in the fourth this year. In the last meeting,
Washington outscored Minnesota 24-10 in the fourth quarter.
— Minnesota will wrap up their season-high-tying three-game road trip on
Saturday afternoon as the Lynx visit the Connecticut Sun for the first
time this season. Tip is set for 1:00 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on
BOB 106 FM and can be seen on NBATV.
MYSTICS NOTES
— The Washington Mystics (5-4) lost, 88-80, to the defending-champion
Minnesota Lynx (3-5) Thursday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Three
Mystics scored in double figures, including guard Natasha Cloud, who
totaled a team-high 17 points on 8-18 from the field in her first start
of the season. Cloud added a Mystics season-high nine assists.
— The Mystics shot 33-66 (.500) from the field and 10-10 (1.000) from the
free throw line.
— Washington tied season highs of 19 assists and nine steals.
— Mystics rookie guard Ariel Atkins (10 points) scored in double figures
for the sixth-straight game, shooting 5-12 (.416) from the field.
— Washington outscored Minnesota, 42-32, in the paint, but was
outrebounded, 34-20, and lost the second-chance-points battle, 20-0. 20
total rebounds were a season low for Washington.
— In addition to Cloud setting a Mystics season high with nine assists,
another pair of season highs were set: forward Elena Delle Donne’s three
blocks and guard Kristi Toliver’s three steals.
— The Lynx led the Mystics, 48-42, at half, despite 11 points and four
assists from Cloud. Washington shot 19-34 (.559) from the field in the
first half, but was outrebounded, 16-9, by Minnesota.
— Washington trailed Minnesota, 27-25, after the first quarter. The
Mystics led, 21-11, with just over three minutes left in the opening
frame before the Lynx opened up a 24-6 run that extended into the second
quarter. Cloud led the Mystics with seven points, shooting 3-3 from the
field and 1-1 from 3-point range.
MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT
On the game: “I thought that the game was played like a playoff game. I thought
that early we were good, [but] the fourth quarter the champion Lynx played and
we weren’t quite there yet. We made some mistakes [and] I thought we missed some
easy shots. I think the biggest thing in the game is an experienced, physical
team like them, they ended up with 20 second chance points and we had zero. You
can’t have that in a playoff-type game against a team like that. That hurt us,
we missed some layups, we had some execution errors and we had some fouling. We
probably fouled – I don’t know if we got the calls at the other end in getting
fouled ourselves — but we’ve gotten into this mode the last 10 days-or-so of
reaching a little bit. It put them at the free throw line and then we’re putting
their best free throw shooters at the line, you’re asking for a little bit of
trouble. When you have a free throw difference like that – eight difference on
the free throw line [18-10 Minnesota] and 20-zip on the offensive boards, that’s
a big hole to try and overcome.”
On the difference in the starting five this game: “I think our pace of the game
has been better when Tash [Natasha Cloud] has played. It allows Kristi [Toliver]
to play without the basketball some and not have the pressure of having to bring
it up every single possession. We’re still not finding enough shots for her and
Elena [Delle Donne]. Elena is still not 100 percent, but she tried to give us
what she had. LaToya [Sanders] is just one of our best defensive players, and we
thought a balance of offense and defense in the starting lineup and pace to the
game would help us. Obviously, that part of it worked, we just didn’t sustain
it.”
On Elena Delle Donne coming back tonight: “I don’t know what I expected for
minutes. Yesterday we had a good idea that she did a fair amount of practice
that she could go in limited minutes at a time. Her 26 minutes tonight were
divided up into four or five-minute segments. We were going to see this morning
how she came and warmed up and how she felt, and she said she felt that she was
good to go, just ‘Coach, take me out every four or five minutes so I can get my
breath back.’ She doesn’t have all if her wind back.”
On the atmosphere: “The atmosphere was great. I would like to have that every
night. I hope we made some new fans tonight. I think that people who knew
something about us came away with…If you didn’t enjoy that game, then you’re
probably not going to be a basketball fan anyway. It was a great basketball
game. If you’re a fan, it was an entertaining game. It was played like a playoff
atmosphere. I hope a lot of those people decided, ‘Hey, this is a worthy product
to come back and see.’”
MYSTICS GUARD NATASHA CLOUD
On when she found out that she was starting tonight: “We had Monday off, so
Tuesday [Coach Mike Thibault] had me in there. I didn’t really know until
yesterday. He called my number, so I was ready to start. One through 12, any of
us can start in different combinations. I just had to bring my energy that I
tend to bring off the bench to the starting group.”
On what was working in the first quarter: “I think the pace of the game [and] we
were spreading the floor out very well, leaving shooters open, leaving the lane
open for penetration and kicks, as well as getting stops on the defensive end,
which is huge for us moving forward. We need to be a defensive-minded team,
because that leads to our transition, which we are much better in, opposed to a
set offense. It helps a lot not having to crawl back from a deficit. It was a
good start. We need to be able to throw the first punch at every team and let
them know, ‘Hey, we’re playing Washington tonight.’”
MYSTICS FORWARD ELENA DELLE DONNE
On the game: “I feel like our defense picked up. We were able to make them a
little bit uncomfortable. We were able to get some steals and get out in
transition. That’s when we look really good on offense because we can just
spread the floor. But they’re a great team and they’re not going to beat
themselves. You really do have to beat them. It’s always a great learning
experience playing against them, especially with the fans, it was like we were
playing in the playoffs once again. Awesome game to be a part of and learn
from.”
On how she felt in her first game back: “It was decent. I’m just trying to
listen to my body each day, try to build it with vitamins [and] supplements.
Hopefully, it will continue to feel better. As long as I don’t over-exert too
much, I’m hoping I’ll be able to continue to go on the incline and feel better
and better every day.”
LYNX HEAD COACH CHERYL REEVE
On getting the win in a tough environment: “Obviously we were pretty desperate.
We had dropped four in a row. The most in this team’s time together, the four or
five who have been together. We had a level of desperation. We had a level of
want to which was necessary. These guys are hard to guard. Washington is hard to
guard. I thought we were pretty gritty, we held them to 11 in the fourth
quarter. That was obviously the key to the game.”
On handing out shoes in Washington D.C “It was such a whirlwind of a day. I did
not get to spend much time directly with the players but I was able to watch
them and to see the players faces and obviously the kids’ faces, that goes
without saying. But to see our players faces and how much they enjoyed what they
were doing and they told me today, they all thanked me for the opportunity to do
something like that to engage i¬¬¬n something like that and so they said while
we have been to the White House three times, they felt like this ranked beyond
that the experience meaning it was for them life changing in terms of what they
did together. Tremendous organization that we partnered with, the Samaritan’s
feet. Fun kids. Kids that were so impressive to us, smart kids, goal driven,
tremendous school and so it was just and incredible day.”
LYNX GUARD LINDSAY WHALEN
On whether they relied on their experience to get the win today: “Every year is
new, every season is different so we did not really about any other time other
than just getting a win tonight. I felt like the last couple of days of practice
and the last week or so even in the games, I felt like we were getting close.
You could feel like the momentum was shifting for us, and at some point we knew
that we were going to break through and have a really good game together and now
it is building on it and making sure we are staying focused, and it was a really
good road win for us, tough environment, great team and just happy we were able
to come out with the victory.”
On the game feeling like a playoff atmosphere: “It was a good atmosphere. The
crowd was into it. A lot of Mystics fans, a lot of Caps fans, I thought that
they definitely showed up and were excited for the game and we played them last
year in the playoffs too in the semifinals for us so we know this team well, and
they have some great players, so we knew we had to be focused right from the
beginning.”
LYNX FORWARD MAYA MOORE
On depending on each other in this game: “It felt good. It felt like us to be
able to overcome the hard moments in the game, to overcome mistakes, to overcome
adversity together and we know we always give ourselves a really good chance to
execute what we want to do when we are together like that connected with energy
and really on the defensive end it shows us more than anything we need to be
able to come together and get stops and that is what we were able to do.”
On Natasha Cloud defending her: “I am used to aggressive defenders every night.
It is me so everybody is going to be extremely aggressive on me but she is
definitely one of those strong tall guards that is able to try to slow you down
with just her activity and her strength so great defenders like her, I have to
prepare for setting up my cuts and doing what I can to just shake them and I
depend on my post players to set great screens and I expect nothing less from
great teams and she is somebody that prides herself on both ends.”
