Storm Blows Into Minnesota, Leaves With Victory

By Lisa Steele: SPM MN Writer
Posted Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - With the Minnesota Lynx returning home after an impressive win against the Western Conference-leading San Antonio Silver Stars on Saturday, an announced crowd of 12,276 saw the Lynx lose to the Storm on Tuesday by a narrow margin, 76-73.

The Storm were playing their third game without last season's MVP Lauren Jackson, who returned home to Australia last week to join her national team as they prepare for the Olympics in Beijing next month.

With Jackson gone, Seattle turned to current Olympian Sue Bird and former Olympian Swin Cash to get the victory for the Storm. Bird lead all scorers with 22 points while Cash added 17.

Filling in for Jackson was second-year player Camille Little, who added Jackson-like numbers, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds. She also made two key free throw with 7.5 seconds left in the game to put the Storm up by three.

"It obviously gives us a great deal of confidence," Storm head coach Brian Agler said. "Not only for the people in there, but also for the players who weren't able to go tonight. It was a great team effort."

With the Storm having all the confidence, the Lynx were trying to find some of their own the entire game.

Seimone Augustus, who just on Saturday had a tremendous shooting night making 11 consecutive shots, struggled to find her shots. She ended the game going 3-for-16 from the field and tying her season low with 10 points.

Not only did Augustus struggle, but rookie Candice Wiggins fell into that same category as she went 3-for-11 shooting while adding 14 points.

The Lynx did manage to get a great performance from rookie Charde Houston. She provided energy off the bench and scored a team-high 16 points and added six rebounds.

"Ultimately everyone has their role that they are responsible for," she said. "My role on the team is to go in and bring some energy. I'm a spark off the bench. And today, that's just what I did."

"She really helped us in that first half," Lynx coach Don Zierden said. "That's not to say she didn't play well in the second half. I thought she gave us a nice lift. We would like to see that consistently from her."

The game was within reach for the Lynx as they got within one point at 74-73 after Vanessa Hayden-Johnson made a four-foot hook shot with 1:23 left in the game.

The Storm did squander their final two possessions with an attempt to build on their one-point lead and the Lynx saw some life left in the game.

With one second left on the shot clock for the Lynx, they had an opportunity to gain the lead, which they hadn't seen since the 5:49 mark of the first quarter. After calling a 20-second timeout, the Lynx got the ball into Hayden-Johnson's hand and she threw up an air ball which caused the Lynx to foul.

Camille Little was sent to the free-throw line where she converted both attempts to put the Storm's lead at three.

The Lynx had one last chance to tie the game but the 3-point attempt by Wiggins missed, giving Seattle the victory and handing the Lynx their 12th loss of the season.

Up next for the Lynx (11-12) will be a trip to Indiana to take on the Fever on July 24th, while the Storm (16-8) travel to Phoenix for a July 25th game against the last-place Mercury.