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Thursday, May 31 10:00pm ET
Stiles scores 15 of 17 in first half | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Katie Smith scored 31 points as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Portland Fire 82-65 Thursday night in the opener for both teams. Betty Lennox scored 17 points in the second half for Minnesota, which pulled away after taking a 37-36 halftime lead on Kristi Harrower's halfcourt shot at the buzzer. Harrower finished with 13 points. Jackie Stiles, the leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball history, scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half for the Fire, which shot 33 percent from the field. "We were very passive the first half. We had a lot of new players out on the court," said Lynx coach Brian Agler. "(Smith) kept us in the game in the first half. She was the only thing we had going." Portland was scoreless for 4:22 late in the second half. The Lynx capitalized, building their lead to 71-57. Lennox hit back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of jumpers in a decisive 21-4 run. Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers and added 16 points in the second half. Sophia Witherspoon scored five quick points and Tully Bevilaqua added a layup early in the second half as Portland took a 43-39 lead. After the teams traded baskets, Lynn Pride put back a miss by Smith with 11:21 left and the Lynx went on their decisive run. Witherspoon shot 2-for-14 from the field and the Fire shot 11 percent from 3-point range. Smith became the 26th player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points. She had 996 points heading into the game. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Cleveland 69 Washington 34
Minnesota 82
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