Silver Stars Even Series With Win Against Lynx
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Jia Perkins scored 24 points and Sophia Young had 23 as the San Antonio Silver Stars beat the Minnesota Lynx 84-75 Sunday to even their first-round series.
Becky Hammon added 18 for the Silver Stars, who had lost seven straight games to Minnesota and are trying to get past the first round for the first time since reaching the WNBA finals in 2008.
Seimone Augustus scored 24 points and Maya Moore had 16 for Minnesota, which had the league's best regular-season record but has never won a playoff series. Lindsay Whalen added 15 points for the Lynx, and Rebekkah Brunson had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Moore was in foul trouble throughout the game and fouled out with 4.9 seconds left.
The deciding Game 3 will be Tuesday night at Minneapolis.
The Silver Stars used a 17-2 run in the third quarter to take control of the game. They held Minnesota to 30 of 76 shooting and forced 17 turnovers.
Young scored 17 points in the second half for San Antonio.
The Silver Stars shot 8 of 16 in the third quarter and led 64-50 heading into the fourth. Young had nine points in the quarter, hitting 5 of 7 free throws. Her layup with 4:44 left capped a 17-2 run and gave the Silver Stars a 57-41 lead.
Perkins had eight points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers.
The Silver Stars led 40-37 at halftime behind 14 points from Perkins and 12 from Hammon. Augustus led Minnesota with 12 points and Whalen had 11.
The Silver Stars went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to take their biggest lead, 31-20. Hammon highlighted the spurt by coming up behind Moore, who wasn't paying attention, stealing the ball and hitting a streaking Perkins for a layup with 6:18 remaining. On the next possession, Hammon hit a 3.
Whalen led Minnesota back, scoring all 11 of her first-half points over the final 4:54 of the quarter. Her 3 as the shot clock expired brought Minnesota to within 40-36 and Monica Wright's free throw shortly before halftime made it 40-37.
The Silver Stars led 18-14 after the first quarter. Moore went to the bench with 5:46 left in the quarter with her second foul and never returned. Augustus, though, had seven points in the quarter to keep Minnesota close.
Before the game, Silver Stars center Ruth Riley, along with Seattle's Sue Bird, was named co-winner of the league's sportsmanship award.
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