The San Antonio Stars had a good first half on both the offensive and defensive side of the basketball against the Minnesota Lynx as they took a three point lead into the locker room. However, a huge third quarter serge from Minnesota happened so quick it caught the Silver & Black off guard and they found themselves in too deep of a hole to climb out of.
Maya Moore finished with 26 points nine rebounds as the Lynx defeated the Stars 88-72 in front of 8,734 fans inside the Target Center on Friday night.
Lindsay Whalen added 19 points, and Damiris Dantas added 17 for Minnesota (6-0), who remain the only undefeated team in the league.
After trailing 39-36 at the break, the Lynx outscored San Antonio 33-10 in the third quarter and took a 20-point lead into the fourth and final quarter of play.
”This game had kind of a funky feel. It never felt like we had enough cushion. I looked up and was kind of surprised that we were up by so much; it just didn’t feel that way,” Moore said.
Minnesota used a 22-6 run to start the third and took a 58-45 lead midway through the quarter. Janel McCarville scored all seven of her points in the quarter, including a three-point play off a Danielle Adams turnover.
San Antonio was just 3-for-14 from the field with nine turnovers in the quarter.
”They made some adjustments and they were full go ahead,” said San Antonio guard Jia Perkins following the loss.
Perkins led the Stars with 15 points and Danielle Adams and Danielle Robinson each had 11 points for San Antonio, who lost their tenth straight game at Target Center. Kayla McBride finished with just nine points, after scoring a season-high 30 in her last outing.
San Antonio made 14 3-pointers, a new franchise record. Perkins connected on four-of-seven threes she took.
”I think we can do that on a fairly regular basis,” said Stars head coach Dan Hughes. ”We don’t have a lot of size on the perimeter, so that’s our way of dealing with it.”
The Stars are now 3-3 on the season and will return to the court on Sunday afternoon when they host these same Minnesota Lynx for a rematch at the AT&T Center at 3:30 p.m.
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