Little Helps Lead Storm Past Lynx 65-55
SEATTLE (AP) -- Camille Little and the rest of the Seattle Storm showed that they could be ready to keep on winning even without three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson.
Jackson will be out of the lineup for at least three weeks with a hip injury.
Little scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures and the Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx 65-55 Friday night despite playing without Jackson, who was injured in Tuesday's victory at Tulsa.
"It's something that unfortunately we've done before," Little said of playing without Jackson, who has been injured in previous seasons.
"We just wanted to make sure we played well. She's a great player and no one can take her place so we try to make sure we play well collectively."
Swin Cash added 13 points and Tanisha Wright and Le'coe Willingham had 11 each for Seattle (4-2). That's the type of balanced attack the Storm will need to keep on winning.
"It's going to be a team effort from now on and it always is really," said Seattle point guard Sue Bird, who had seven points and eight assists.
"The more players that we've got going the better off our team is going to be because you can't hone in on one. A lot of people can do different things and that's a good thing."
Seimone Augustus scored 17 to lead Minnesota (5-2), which had its five-game winning streak end.
"We lacked a lot of energy, I think and they jumped out early," Augustus said. "It is the tale of two games the last game, we jumped out early and got the lead, and the roles were switched. They jumped out early, had the fans behind them, and they played with a lot of energy and we never did quite get going."
Amber Harris added 11 points and Lindsay Whalen 10. Rebekkah Brunson had two points and seven rebounds to end a league record-tying six-game double-double streak to start the season.
Wright scored seven points in the fourth quarter to help the Storm break open the game after the Lynx had cut the lead to 47-45 after three quarters.
Augustus hit a 16-footer to tie it at 41 midway through the third quarter.
Little had six to spark a 10-2 run in the final minutes of the first half to help give the Storm a 35-25 halftime lead.
Seattle jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter before Augustus scored nine to help the Lynx cut the lead to 25-23 late in the first half.
Minnesota shot just 2 of 15 from the field in the first quarter while the Storm shot 8 of 15.
The Lynx beat Seattle 81-74 on June 9 to end the Storm's 18-game, regular-season home winning streak.
"We let everybody on their team get involved, and they were determined not to let the same outcome happen when we came in last time," rookie Maya Moore said.
With a victory, the Lynx could have tied their single-season record winning streak of six games.
Brunson was scoreless in the first half with four rebounds. She could have tied Jackson's league record of seven consecutive double-doubles set in 2003.
Brunson shot 1 of 5 from the field.
"We just tried to focus on boxing her out because she's a great offensive rebounder and a great rebounder period," Little said. "We tried to focus as a team to keep her out of the paint. She still got a couple, but we tried to make sure she didn't get as many as she usually does."
Seattle held Moore to four points. She fouled out after playing 19 minutes.
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