Of the Minnesota Lynx’s three victories this season, two of them are against the New York Liberty and each looked somewhat similar.
Minnesota seeks back-to-back victories for the first time this season Tuesday night when it visits the Liberty in Brooklyn for the second time in three days.
The Lynx (3-8) lost their first four games but are 3-4 in the past seven games. Their first win was an 87-84 victory over the host Los Angeles Sparks on May 17 and the second was an 84-78 home victory over New York on May 24.
Following losses to Los Angeles and the Atlanta Dream, the Lynx produced an 84-77 victory in New York on Sunday. Unlike the first win over New York when Minnesota shot 37.1 percent, it tied a season high by shooting 49.2 percent overall and a season-high 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from 3-point range.
In both wins over New York, Aerial Powers was the leading scorer. Powers scored 18 in the first meeting by going 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and Sunday she returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench for two games and tied a career high with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor.
“I have been more aggressive going to the rack,” Powers said. “I’m an attack player. It opens up a lot more for me and I know it allows me to not think as much.
New York (3-8) is hoping to rebound after missing a chance at a three-game winning streak. The Liberty nearly came back from a 16-point deficit through the third quarter Sunday but struggled with execution down the stretch and missed 26 of 30 3-point tries.
“Disappointing, definitely because they wanted it more,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said. “We got open shots and we just missed them. It’s a recurring thing.”
The best news for New York were big games from Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Howard. Ionescu scored 31 and is averaging 26.0 per game over her past three contests since a crushing 92-61 loss at Seattle on May 29. Howard added 20 for her sixth straight game in double figures.
–Field Level Media