Is anyone catching Lynx's sales pitch?

The Lynx have three of the most exciting rookies in the league, started the season with five consecutive victories and still have a playoff spot within their grasp despite recently struggling.

But none of that has helped at the gate. Coming into this week, the Lynx were 13th out of 14 WNBA in attendance, averaging 6,272 per game. That's 700 fans fewer than last season when the team was 10-24 and tied for the worst record in the league.

Angela Taylor, the vice president of business development for the Lynx, said her dream is consistently packing the lower bowl at Target Center.

"We have a long way to go," she said, "but we are moving in the right direction. If you look in our stands, there is a lot of new people in the building sampling the Lynx product. And people are leaving the game falling in love with our players, with our team and the excitement around this organization."

At least that's the hope.

Trouble is the Lynx, 12-12 after an 84-80 overtime victory at Indiana on Thursday night, are only 6-6 at home. And some of those losses at Target Center are hard to explain.

The Lynx lost to expansion Atlanta, which was 1-17 at the time. They lost to Houston after sleepwalking through the first quarter and scoring only six points. And Tuesday, before the largest crowd of the season -- it was announced as 12,276 on Kids' Day -- they lost 76-73 to Seattle.

Dennis Ryan of Maple Grove was at his first Lynx game Tuesday with his daughter, Kara, age 9. "It's daddy-daughter day," he said before the opening tap. "I'm looking forward to watching some of the young players they have, like Candice Wiggins."

Wiggins is the team's second-leading scorer and playing well, as are rookies Nicky Anosike and Charde Houston.

It was Kara's idea to attend, but she said she was unsure about going to more games.

"We like to be outside during the summer months, and people get stuck on wanting to watch men play basketball," Dennis Ryan said. "The thing is [the Lynx] got to win. If you don't put a winning team or a contending team out there, people tend to lose interest."

Cathy Kelley of Maple Grove has not, though. She is one of the 120 or so original season-ticket holders from 1999. She was at the Storm game with two grandchildren -- Laura, who turns 3 in August, and Logan, 6.

So would team owner Glen Taylor, who also owns the Timberwolves.

In nine seasons, the Lynx have finished above .500 only twice, in 2003 and 2004. They were 18-16 in each of those seasons and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

"Most of the teams in the league lose money," Taylor said. "We lose money. We need to get it profitable."

Taylor said he would like to keep the team in Minnesota. "I'd like to see them do well," he said, "but we're struggling to figure out how to make it profitable. We were hoping winning would be helpful.

"We've done better this year but we have lost a lot of close games. [The Lynx are 0-4 in games decided by three points or fewer and lost a fifth game in overtime.] I'd like to get in the playoffs, but we're on the fringe right now."

Tonight they face San Antonio, and Sunday they play Los Angeles. Both are among the top three teams in the Western Conference.

The Sparks have Candace Parker, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft last spring and the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. Lynx officials expect a big crowd for the last game before the monthlong Olympics break.

Parker and teammates Lisa Leslie and DeLisha Milton-Jones are all on the U.S. team.

When the WNBA resumes play in late August, the Lynx will have only eight regular-season games left, three at home.

"What we've got to do is put out good performances and get people coming back," said Roger Griffith, the Lynx's chief operating officer.