Moore Scores 19 To Lead Lynx In Rout Of Liberty
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Maya Moore scored 19 points and the Minnesota Lynx cruised to an 86-68 victory over the New York Liberty on Sunday.
Seimone Augustus had 12 points and Rebekkah Brunson added 10 for the Lynx (25-7), who had already clinched home-court throughout the playoffs. Minnesota shot 54 percent from the field, including 8 for 18 on 3-pointers.
Plenette Pierson scored 17 points and Nicole Powell had 10 for the Liberty (18-14), who had won five of their previous seven -- including a 78-62 victory at Minnesota on Friday night.
The Lynx outscored the Liberty 15-5 in the third quarter while holding them to 1-for-19 shooting from the field. Minnesota led 67-46 lead heading to the fourth, and Amber Harris' layup with 5:18 remaining gave the Lynx their biggest lead at 76-52.
After the Liberty pulled within nine on Powell's steal and layup with 5:57 left in the third, the Lynx scored the next 11 points to take a 65-45 lead nearly 4 minutes later. Moore had six points during the spurt, including the jumper that put Minnesota up 20 with 2:07 to go.
Quanitra Hollingsworth made 1 of 2 from the line with about 56 seconds left to end the Liberty's scoring drought at 5:01.
Brunson's jumper with 13 seconds to go gave the Lynx their 21-point lead after three periods.The Liberty got no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored six consecutive points during one stretch as Minnesota pulled away with an 18-3 run bridging the first two quarters, taking a 37-21 lead on Brunson's layup with 7:25 to go in the first half.
Kara Braxton scored six straight points to pull the Liberty within 10 about 1 1/2 minutes later.
Lindsay Whalen and McWilliams-Franklin had consecutive layups to push the Lynx's lead back to 16 with 2:10 remaining in the half.
Leilani Mitchell made a 3 and Cappie Pondexter made two free throws in the final minute as New York closed the second quarter with a 7-2 run to pull to 52-41 at the break.
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