Minnesota comes back from 18-point deficit to beat Seattle, 76-73
Final | Storm falls to @minnesotalynx 76-73. @JennaOHea had a career high 17p. pic.twitter.com/wWLWbAluAI
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) June 26, 2015
Box Score || Notes || Quotes || By the Numbers
The Minnesota Lynx (6-2) launched an impressive comeback from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Seattle Storm 76-73 at KeyArena Thursday night. After being in control for most of the game, the Storm (2-5) faltered in the final minutes to let the game slip away on their home court.
Seattle took a game-high 18-point lead with 5:24 left in the second quarter. They led by nine at the half, 51-42, but the Lynx ramped up their defense in the third quarter and continued to cut into the Storm’s lead. Seattle committed seven turnovers in the third and shot 1-for-7.
Minnesota went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter and got a three from Maya Moore to cut the Seattle lead to 64-63. They took the lead for the first time since the first basket of game with 18.4 seconds left on a basket and a foul from Damiris Dantas.
Seimone Augustus led Minnesota with 24 points plus four rebounds. Lindsay Whalen added 16 points and six assists. Other Lynx players in double figures included Moore with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists as well as Damiris Dantas with 10 points and six rebounds.
Jenna O’Hea scored 17 points for the Storm and veteran point guard Sue Bird added 16 plus five assists. Abby Bishop was close to a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
- With her three in the fourth quarter, Sue Bird passed Sheryl Swoopes for 13th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. She now has 4,876 points.
- The Storm added 6-5 center Markeisha Gatling to the roster. She logged nearly nine minutes and scored 7 points and pulled down two rebounds.
- The Lynx finished the game with 10 blocks, five of those by Devereaux Peters.
- Seattle held Minnesota to 0 fast break points throughout the game.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve
(On the game)
“I thought Seattle played great in the first half. We gave up 51 points. They had a great bounce in their step and they knew how to exploit what we were doing defensively. Then we made a couple of adjustments that I thought were effective, that gave us life, that gave us some opportunities to climb back into it. That’s a long game. A lot just happened in those two hours. You just have to hang in there, hang in there, hang in there. I was really proud of us. This is a hard place to be down 18 and come back and win.”
(On their defense in the second half)
“I was really proud of them. We adjusted well. The switching bothered them for sure. They were trying to exploit the switch by going inside, but our help defense was really, really good. We collapsed and they just didn’t know where their shots were going to come from. I really credit our defense. I told (Storm coach) Jenny (Boucek) before the game that they’re running really good stuff, putting teams in really challenging situations, have shooters all over the place É but I was just really thankful that our team stayed with it. We got great leadership from Seimone (Augustus) and Lindsay (Whalen). I’m really proud of them.”
(On the baskets by Damiris Dantas down the stretch)
“Yeah, we knew that the roller was open. We consistently had missed it throughout the game so we were imploring our players that I don’t want to just live and die by the jump shot. I want to put some pressure on their defense. On one of (those baskets), Lindsay found Damiris on a high pick situation then she found her. Then we had a play call in if we got a stop so we had good flow and didn’t have to take a timeout. We got that play call in and Seimone drew attention and then found Damiris for a lefty finish. And that’s something that we’ve been working with her on – she finished with her left and three-point play. Our execution was really good in the final minute.”
Lynx forward Seimone Augustus
(On the game)
“It was a great game both ways. Seattle came out in the first half and really stuck it to us. They executed their offense and defensively made it very difficult for us. Fortunately we kept our composure, came out in the second half and just started to move the ball. Our defense was key. We started to swarm the ball, get after it and it caused them to face some difficult situations. We were able to get some deflections, get out into transition and get some buckets.”
(On Damiris Dantas’ play in the final minute or so)
“She was great. A lot of people don’t know that Damiris doesn’t speak very good English, but some way, somehow, she finds a way to make herself available and make the right plays when we we’re out there on the court. In that last few minutes, she really found herself in great positions seeking the ball, setting ball screens and then rolling to the basket. And it helped. Coming into the last minute, she hit that and-one to put us up, and that was a key play. That was just her making a great play, coming to set that on-ball screen for me then rolling hard to the basket.”
Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen
(On the game)
“It was such a hard game. Give them credit. It was a great game. We made a couple plays down the stretch and it ended up working out really well for us.”
(On the difference in the second half)
“Defense. We really picked it up on defense. We got after it, got some deflections, got some rebounds then we were able to run.”
(On what she was telling the team to keep them in it)
“Stay with it. It’s a long game. There are a lot of possessions and do whatever we can to stay aggressive and keep making the plays.”
Storm head coach Jenny Boucek
(On the progress the team has made)
“I thought a lot of people showed progress. They worked very hard in this home stretch and I think individually people have gotten better, and I think as a team we got better.”
(Overall thoughts on the game)
“We made great strides, I thought, in these practices we have had. But there is a big difference between playing well in a game and closing one out. And they have a lot of experience collectively closing games out together, and we don’t have that experience.”
Storm guard Sue Bird
(On Seattle’s play in the first half versus the second half)
“They made an adjustment which was to switch on our ball screens and we basically got stagnant because of it. In the first half, what really worked for us was our ability to move with and without the ball and also just move the ball itself.”
(On learning from tonight’s loss)
“It’s a learning experience. Now we have pretty much seen every type of loss. Unfortunately, with this one, we really had control of the game and this is the first time we have been in a close game. Just being able to execute and getting stops when we needed them. Up four with a minute, all we needed was a stop really, maybe two. You know it’s a work in progress and we are still going to learn these things. Unfortunately sometimes, you learn from losing.”
Storm forward Jenna O’Hea
(On growing as a team)
“We had a couple of really good practices this week. We really worked on our offensive execution and know where to find each other. We will keep getting better as the season gets long. Learning to play with one another and we are definitely making strides. I’ve got no doubt we will just keep getting better.”
Points in the Paint: Lynx 12, Storm 2
Second Chance Points: Lynx 4, Storm 0
Fastbreak Points: Lynx 0, Storm 3
Biggest Lead: Lynx 3, Storm 16
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 1
