By Staff
Notes || By the Numbers || Quotes || Social Media Recap
The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Indiana Fever 77-71 in game two of the WNBA Finals Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1. The teams resume action on Friday in Indianapolis at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
Veteran center Sylvia Fowles led Minnesota with 21 points and nine rebounds. Maya Moore scored 19 points in addition to accumulating eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks. Seimone Augustus was also in double figures with 11 points plus four rebounds. Starting point guard Lindsay Whalen contributed eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Four Fever players were in double figures: Briann January (17 points, five assists), Tamika Catchings (11 points, nine rebounds, five assists), Shenise Johnson (10 points, five rebounds), Marissa Coleman (10 points). Erlana Larkins also added nine points and nine rebounds.
Minnesota
Indiana
By the Numbers
Box score
Points in the Paint: Fever 26, Lynx 40
Second Chance Points: Fever 8, Lynx 21
Fastbreak Points: Fever 8, Lynx 14
Biggest Lead: Fever 10, Lynx 8
Lead Changes: 7
Times Tied: 4
Attendance: 12,134 (Sellout)
Another great game between the Fever and the Lynx. I think we learned some things and showed some grit, obviously. Indiana was going for it. They’re kind of the knockout, trying to get that second win on the road. I appreciated our resilience.
Saw some things that we can do better, no doubt, especially in crunch time. We’d like to get some shots and not turn the darn thing over and help us get separation. They’re terrific in executing, I mean, just terrific.
Lindsay Whalen
Q: You were more aggressive tonight. Is that a decision that you made coming into the game or the game came to you that way?
Whalen: I definitely came out aggressive. A couple shots I probably got too deep in the lane but it was an aggressive game and I had an aggressive mindset. We came out and really made plays and were able to get things done.
Q: There was a stretch in the 4th Quarter where they went a little over 5 minutes without scoring a field goal. Can you talk about your team’s defense?
Whalen: Yeah, it was awesome. We pressured up, guards got pressure and it was great team ball. It was a lot of fun to do whatever you could, people were flying around getting loose balls and it was the way we have played throughout the year and it was really fun to be a part of the game tonight and the win.
Seimone Augustus
Q: Did you want to be more aggressive coming into tonight or did the game just come to you that way?
Seimone Augustus: The game just kind of—I mean a little bit of both. I wanted to do it. I had game footage and saw the areas where I could have been aggressive last game where I wasn’t. That was kind of the key focus. I just came out and tried to attack the basket and try to keep my teammates going, moving the ball around. Defensively, just trying to get after whoever my assignment was, creating some deflections and creating turnovers.
Q: On holding the Indiana Fever scoreless for five minutes in the fourth quarter:
Augustus: That’s the Lynx way. I didn’t know it was five minutes, but that’s pretty darn good to be able to stop a team that has a player of [Tamika] Catchings’ caliber. Briann January was having a nice game. They were stopped for five straight minutes and during that stretch we went on a little bit of a run. That’s pretty impressive.
Well, I guess first and foremost I learned a valuable lesson today. I learned that it pays to go public with comments about officials. Who would have known that? Because this game was a blood bath. I’ve never seen a player of Tamika Catchings caliber get so disrespected in my life, never. And to me, that’s a travesty. That’s a travesty.
We knew we had to do a better job on the boards. We didn’t do that in the first half. We had to take care of the paint; we didn’t do that. We stopped Catchings, pretty much like a Lindsay Whalen because we weren’t getting calls, right? So one up for the veteran, and a lesson learned for the rookie.
Marissa Coleman
Q: You guys had a stretch of a little over 5 minutes in the 4th Quarter where you didn’t score a field goal. Can you talk about their defense and how it may have disrupted what you wanted to do offensively?
Coleman: We just have to do a better job executing. I think we got away from what made us successful. We stopped moving the ball and we stopped attacking. We have to go back, look at the film and be ready for Friday.
Q: You guys get to go back to Indiana with the series tied, how does it feel?
Coleman: I’m excited. We get to go back and play in front of the best fans in the league. It will probably be a sold-out crowd, so we’re excited to play, excited to get back and play on our home court.
Erlana Larkins, Indiana Fever
Q: You guys had a stretch of a little over 5 minutes in the 4th Quarter where you didn’t score a field goal. Can you talk about their defense and how it may have disrupted what you wanted to do offensively?
Larkins: I’m not going to say it was their defense, I think we just weren’t patient enough on offense. We sped up and didn’t stay true to the things that helped us get the lead, which was moving the ball, setting screens, playing multiple actions and we took quick shots. We also had five turnovers in a row. We were playing too fast and I think that’s what happened down the stretch.
Q: On a more positive note, you go back to Indiana with the series tied, how does it feel?
Larkins: We’re excited. We did what we came here to do, unfortunately we let this one slip away. We would have liked to have won both games here but the idea was to take one on the road and we did that. Now we have to go back home and take care of business because we don’t want to come back here.
Tags: Brianna January, Cheryl Reeve, Maya Moore, Stephanie White, Sylvia Fowles, Tamika Catchings