An eight-player roster isn’t going to get it done against the WNBA’s best team.
A short-handed lineup allowed Minnesota to stay in control throughout as the Lynx beat the Seattle Storm 86-73 Tuesday night at KeyArena. Sue Bird was back and scored 17 points, but Lauren Jackson, Ann Wauters and Tina Thompson were not.
The Lynx had three 20-point scorers: Olympians Seimone Augustus had 22 and Maya Moore 20, same as Rebekkah Brunson.
The Storm cut a 17-point second half lead to five early in the fourth quarter, but the depth of the defending WNBA champs (18-4) was too much. They pushed the lead back to 20 to secure their third win in four games against Seattle, which lost for the second game in a row to fall to 10-12.
As an athlete and competitor and as a team, really, you cant think about who you dont have, Bird said. You can only worry about who you do have. Am I looking forward to having three people play that didnt play tonight? Absolutely.
Jackson, who has yet to play for the Storm this season because of the Olympics, was suited up but did not play in her first 24 hours back from Australia. Wauters and Thompson are injured.
The Storm were led by Camille Little with 20 points and shot 7-for-11 from the field.
