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Sunday, Jul. 2 6:00pm ET
Smith, Lennox lead Lynx to victory | |||||
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BOX SCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Katie Smith scored 32 points and Betty Lennox had 29 as Minnesota beat the Portland Fire 81-75 Sunday, the Lynx's fourth win in five games. Sophia Witherspoon had 31 points for the Fire (3-10), who lost their fifth straight on the road. Witherspoon, who scored 25 points in the second half, set the record for most points by a Lynx opponent. "Katie and Betty both had pretty good games for us, hitting shots and knocking down free throws for us," Minnesota coach Brian Agler said. "We played pretty well in both ends of the court, which was very important. "But I thought we played pretty good defense and we still gave up 75 points, so give credit to (Portland)." Minnesota (10-5), which didn't score for the game's first four minutes, used a 25-9 run to overcome a 6-0 deficit. The Lynx stretched the lead to 40-28 at halftime by scoring 19 points off 17 Portland turnovers. The Fire stayed within striking distance in the second half but was hampered by 28 team turnovers for the game. "We played a pretty good second half to make it a ballgame," Fire coach Linda Hargrove said. "But against a good team on the road you can't give up 17 turnovers in a half and expect to win." Kristin Folkl had seven rebounds for Minnesota and Smith added six. Lynn Pride and Witherspoon each had six rebounds for the Fire. Lennox had six assists. "I just seemed to get into a groove there in the second half and was able to take whatever the defense gave me," Witherspoon said. "The coaches gave us a game plan to put us in a position to win, and tonight we just didn't do that." Smith was 7-for-20 from the field but was 5-for-10 from 3-point range and 13-for-16 from the foul line. "We got into a game of exchanging baskets with them in the second half," Lennox said. "I give credit to my teammates for getting me the ball, but we also had some lapses on defense and I take the blame for that. We gave up too many points." It was Minnesota's first game without veteran forward Andrea Lloyd Curry. She tore the ACL in her left knee in a victory at Seattle on Friday and will miss the rest of the season. "We felt that loss tonight," Agler said. "We don't have the depth we had at the post, but we have to get through it. We'll just find a way to move on." | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard Lynx lose forward Curry to torn ACL for rest of season
RECAPS Houston 69 Phoenix 58
Minnesota 81
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