Whalen Scores 16 To Lead Lynx Past Sky, 79-76
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Lindsay Whalen scored 16 points led Minnesota's balanced scoring effort and the Lynx held off the Chicago Sky 79-76 Friday night.
Seimone Augustus had 14 points, Maya Moore scored 13 and Candice Wiggins 12 for Minnesota (17-5), which won for the 10th time in 11 games and 12th in 14.
Sylvia Fowles scored 28 points to lead the Sky (10-14), who have lost four of their last five. Tamera Young added 16 points.
The Sky scored six consecutive points in a 34-second span -- on two free throws and a layup by Fowles and a layup by Shay Murphy -- to pull to 78-76 with 39 seconds to go, but Murphy missed a layup with 3 seconds to go.
Taj McWilliams-Franklin made 1 of 2 from the line, and Tamera Young missed desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Chicago trailed 61-54 entering the fourth quarter and pulled to 64-63 on Murphy's fastbreak basket. However, Wiggins made back-to-back 3s to restore Minnesota's seven-point lead.
A fast start gave Chicago a 17-7 lead midway through the opening quarter. But the Sky started to struggle, making just one field goal over the next 6:41.
The Lynx replied with a 15-2 run over the final 4:15 to open a 22-19 advantage by the end of the first quarter and led 47-39 at halftime.
Fowles had 16 points at halftime while Whalen and Augustus each had 10 for Minnesota.
Chicago opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run, including consecutive points and tied the score at 50-all on Courtney Vandersloot's bank shot.
The Lynx outscored the Sky 11-4 over final 7:15 of third quarter to take a seven-point lead.
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