Jul 19, 2008 9:32 pm US/Central
Augustus Hits 11-Straight In Minnesota's 87-74 Win
SAN ANTONIO (AP) ―
Seimone Augustus made 11 straight shots from the floor and finished with a season-high 30 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 87-74 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Saturday night.
Augustus missed a shot 4:10 into the contest and didn't miss again until 6:24 left in the game. She finished 12-of-15 in 35 minutes of play.
Candice Wiggins added 24 points for Minnesota (11-11).
Becky Hammon scored 24 to lead the Silver Stars. Ann Wauters scored 18 and Sophia Young added 15.
The loss dropped San Antonio (16-8) out of first place in the Western Conference. The Silver Stars are even with Seattle in the win-loss column, but the Storm have a better winning percentage.
It's only the second time in 13 games that San Antonio has lost at home.
Lynx coach Don Zierden missed his second game because of an illness. He's expected back Tuesday afternoon when the Lynx return to Minnesota to play Seattle. Assistant coach Julie Plank coached the team in Zierden's absence, as she did Thursday against Houston.
The Lynx had a 16-point lead when Charde Houston scored on a layup with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
Hammon hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the third quarter to start San Antonio's comeback. That cut Minnesota's lead to 11 points to start the fourth quarter.
The Silver Stars cut it to six points when Wauters scored inside and made a free throw when she was fouled by Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, who scored 10 points.
San Antonio could have cut it to four points on the next trip down the floor, but Ruth Riley was called for an illegal screen and the Lynx got the ball to Augustus. She hit her 11th straight field goal to give the Lynx a 66-58 lead with 7:31.
San Antonio trailed by four with 4:18 left in the first half. But the Lynx scored nine straight during the next 2:46 to go ahead 40-27 with less than two minutes before halftime.
Augustus hit 7-of-8 shots for 15 points as the Lynx led 44-33 at halftime. Behind Augustus' shooting, Minnesota hit 51 percent from the floor in the first half.
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