The Lynx defeated the Fever 77-71. The best-of-five series is now even as the teams depart for the next two games in Indianapolis. Sylvia Fowles had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
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“We got mauled. We got passive”, bemoaned White, who publicly complaining of the bad officiating – the Fever drew two technical fouls in the last four minutes of Tuesday’s contest. “Both teams are very hungry”.
“I challenged Bri to lead this team”, Catchings said postgame.
“She’s had to adjust to a new style because it’s not the same when she goes in there”, Reeve said. She finished the quarter with five points.
In this October. 4, 2015, photo, Minnesota Lynx’s Lindsay Whalen…
The Fever held a 41-39 lead at halftime after a four-point play in the final seconds.
“That was a great way to head into the half”, said January.
January was part of the Fever’s first Finals appearance in 2009 when they came up short to Phoenix. Tamika Catchings had 11 points and nine rebounds as foul trouble limited her to 24 minutes.
Just like Game 1, every time the Lynx looked to be gaining momentum, the Fever pushed right back.
Briann January scored 17 points and added five assists for the Fever.
White said she played Catchings most of the fourth quarter because she didn’t have a choice.
Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine have teamed up to purchase 1,000 tickets for Game 2, which is a 7 p.m. tipoff at Target Center.
“She got nailed by a screen”.
“A fine. Uh-huh”, White said. “Was it a legal screen? I think anytime you give them a foot, that’s all you have to give them”. Presumably, they are applauding White for standing up for her players while standing up to the refs. Anna Cruz hit two free throws with 27.4 seconds left to push the Lynx lead to five, then she got the rebound of Catchings’ miss at the other end to seal the win. The ruling was upheld after an official’s review. Technicals-Coleman, Johnson, Indiana defensive three second.
“So one up for the veteran and a lesson learned for the rookie”, White said. “I learned that it pays to go public with comments about officials”.
Cruz has averaged 22.5 minutes through the first two games and it’s evident that Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is not hesitant to keep in the Spaniard in a big spot.
“Because this game was a blood bath”, White continued.
Which star player – Maya Moore or Tamika Catchings – will be counted on more throughout the rest of the series? And to me, that’s a travesty.
Sylvia Fowles has been a beast for Minnesota and Maya Moore has picked her spots and made an impact on both games. We didn’t handle the pressure.
The Fever coach said the Fever became passive after they were “mauled”.
“And we are too good for that”, she said. “So I’m frustrated and you better believe I’ll be ready”.
“She’s just an outstanding young coach”, Kloppenburg said. When asked for the reason for an outbreak of turnovers, she replied: “Besides fouling us?”
BK: The Fever need to make the game tougher for Fowles. I think we learned somethings and showed a few grit. “Indiana was going for that knockout with the second win on the road. I valued our flexibility”. “That takes teams out of what they want to do and that was really what we wanted to do with this team. But I thought we were able to do that for longer stretches tonight”. Augustus scored nine points on 3-for-11 shooting. Indiana was led by 17 points from January and Catchings netted 11. “It’s set up to be a very entertaining Game 3”.
“It’s going to be a dogfight, just like it has been these first two games”, Moore said. “She was huge for us the whole game”. “It jump-started the game for us”.
Catchings is looking forward to playing on her home court.
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Catchings was playing in her 64th career playoff game, tying Taj McWilliams-Franklin for most in WNBA history.
