Harris injured in Lynx win over Connecticut

Everybody played, everybody scored and the Lynx won an exhibition game on Thursday, beating Connecticut 87-85 on the road.

It was almost a perfect start to the season for the defending WNBA champions, except for the injury to 6-5 forward Amber Harris.

The second-year pro from Xavier suffered a left ankle injury late in the third quarter. She needed assistance off the court. How badly she was hurt was not immediately know, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.

"We don't [know], unfortunately," Reeve said, according to a postgame news release from the Sun. "The last I saw, she was being carried off with no weight on it. We'll just have to wait and see. I believe that we will wait until [Friday] when we get back to Minneapolis and see the doctors."

Harris had three points and five rebounds in eight minutes, 30 seconds.

She averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game last season as a rookie. She missed several late-season games with a concussion -- the only serious injury the Lynx had in a remarkably injury-free summer in 2011.

Aside from Harris' injury, Reeve could not have scripted the game much better.

The Lynx bench outscored the Sun's reserves 46-32.

"I probably could talk more about what we need to work on, as opposed to what we did well," Reeve said. "But, I think that they didn't quit."

The Lynx finished with rookies Devereaux Peters, Julie Wojta, Queralt Casas and Brittany Rayburn on the floor with backup center Jessica Adair, who has one full year of WNBA experience.

"The group that was in there at the end, I really appreciated that they dug in and got stops and put us in position to win the game," Reeve said. "Even though it is preseason, it is always great to be able to go on the road and get a win."

Casas made a layup with 31.6 seconds left for the winning basket.

Reeve started the same starting five she went with nearly every game last season: Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus at guards, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson at forward and Taj McWilliams-Franklin at center.

Augustus led the Lynx with 12 points, making two of three shots from behind the arc, Brunson had 11 points. Each played 19:35, a team-high.

"In practice, we've all been doing well and it showed tonight," Brunson said.

The Lynx shots 49.2 percent from the field and made seven of 16 three-point shot attempts.

Problem areas:

* 20 turnovers, Whalen, Erin Thorn and Adair had three apiece

SUN'S SIDE

Center Tina Charles, the Sun's best player, did not play. Guard Kara Lawson led the home team with 19 points.

The Sun shot 45.7 percent, includig eight of 20 on three-point tries. The Sun were outrebounded 35-31.

"That was a pretty interesting preseason game," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "The minutes were balanced. Everybody got a chance to look at a bunch of stuff…All in all, I thought it had a pretty good edge to it. Sometimes, you don't get that in a preseason game."

The Lynx play the Chicago Sky at noon Tuesday at the Sports Pavilion on the campus of the U of M. The Sky beat Washington 73-68 in their preseason game on Thursday.