Maya Moore Leads Lynx Past Fever, 86-79
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Maya Moore made five her six 3-pointers in the third quarter to tie the WNBA record and had a career-high 29 points in the Minnesota Lynx's 86-79 victory over the Indiana Fever on Monday night.
"The coaching staff just made me aware of what actually happened. In the moment, you're just playing," Moore said. "I was just trying to be aggressive and its one of those nights where the shot is feeling good, so you keep shooting."
Moore matched Phoenix star Diana Taurasi's WNBA record for 3-pointers in a quarter set in 2010.
The defending champion Lynx completed their home schedule with a franchise-record 16-1 mark and improved to 26-5 overall. They will finish the regular season with three road games.
Lindsay Whalen added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Minnesota, which has already clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
With the loss, the Fever (20-11) dropped out of contention for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Katie Douglas added 17 points, Briann January had 14, and Jessica Davenport 13.
"It was too bad we couldn't do some things down the stretch," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "We need to stay healthy. We don't need to lose two starters and play the fourth quarter with two starters going down, especially our starting point guard."
The Lynx trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and were down 62-52 with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter. But Moore hit three of her five 3 pointers in the quarter over the next 3 minutes and Minnesota tied it entering the fourth.
The Lynx forced five fourth-quarter turnovers to take control.
Seimone Augustus returned from a three-game absence due to a sprained right foot and scored eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. Devereaux Peters also finished in double figures for Minnesota with 10.
Indiana's Shavonte Zellous took a blow to the head with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half and didn't return due to concussion-like symptoms. January sustained an apparent injury with 4:47 to play and was helped to the locker room. She did not return.
Minnesota's victory assured the Connecticut Sun of the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed.
The Fever have clinched the No. 2 seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the third-seeded and defending Eastern Conference champion Atlanta Dream.
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