Lynx fall to Connecticut despite late rally, lose third in row

So much for the Lynx's perfect record at home this season.

The Connecticut Sun, led by the outside-inside pair of Kara Lawson and Tina Charles, beat the Lynx 86-80 on Saturday at Target Center before an announced crowd of 10,882.

The loss was the third in a row for the Lynx and their first at home in nine games. Counting last year's playoffs, they had won 14 in a row in their arena.

The streak ended because they couldn't contain Lawson. She scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds. Charles, a 6-4 center, had 19 points and 15 rebounds and was an intimidator in the middle on defense.

Can't forget Asjha Jones, either. The Sun forward had 16 points and 11 rebounds. It was the fourth game in a row Charles and Jones had double-doubles. Now Lawson joined them.

The Lynx (13-4) made a furious rally after falling behind by 20 points at 74-54 early in the fourth quarter. A 21-4 run, fueled by five three-pointers – two by Maya Moore and two by Candice Wiggins – got the Lynx within 78-75.
They never got any closer.

Moore led the Lynx with 19 points, Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 15 and Seimone Augustus 14, 12 in the first half.
The Sun led 41-38 at halftime and, except for eight turnovers, the lead could have been much bigger.

Charles had nine points, Jones eight. And each had seven rebounds.

Augustus was keeping the Lynx close with 12 points on five-of-six shooting.

There were six leads changes in the first half and twice the score was tied. Connecticut built a 41-34 lead late in the half. But in the last 30 seconds, Wiggins made a three-pointer for the Lynx and Amber Harris scored on a fastbreak layup to close the gap.

The Sun opened the second half with a 12-2 run to build a 53-40 lead. Lawson made two three-pointers for the first points and she also made two free throws later. By the end of the quarter the lead was 16.