Whalen Lifts Lynx Over Fever 66-64 With Late Shot

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Lindsay Whalen banked a fade-away jumper in with 1.6 seconds left to give the Minnesota Lynx a 66-64 win over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.

The Lynx bounced back from their fifth loss of the year to add to their WNBA-best record. Maya Moore finished with 15 points and Devereaux Peters added 13 in the win for Minnesota which is 25-5 this season.

"She's obviously one of the top point guards in this league, she's so strong," Fever forward Katie Douglas said. "I think you saw her strength on that play. ... She wasn't going to be denied and she hit a tough shot.

"When you get her going left, that's what we wanted. ... That's what she does."

The Fever watched their three-game winning streak come to an end. Tamika Catchings posted her eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Briann January chipped in 16 points as Katie Douglas had 14.

January tied the game at 64 with just under 24 seconds left with a driving layup in the the chest of the Lynx defender. Whalen nearly dribbled the clock out when she made the game-winner from 10-feet away.

"That was a good bounce-back game for us," Whalen said. "We got off to the right start. Although Indy's tough in Indy, we were able to say with them."

The Fever are the top three-point shooting team in the league, but were 2-for-18 from behind the arc.

"It's unfortunate that we did not knock down some more open shots," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "I thought, if you look at the tale of the game, it would be us shooting 38 percent from the field and missing some bunnies around the basket and some open looks that we usually hit.

"It was a good test for us. We haven't a test like this, gosh, in a long time."

The reigning champion Lynx were never able to extend a short-lived 10 point lead from early in the second quarter, though the Fever never led. Indiana couldn't put together a strong enough run until the fourth quarter when they held the visitors to just 12 points.

"We scored 25 points in the second half," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "Indiana should be proud of that."

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