Lynx savor sweep of Tulsa before Olympic break

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was pleased with her team's 89-74 victory over Tulsa on Thursday.

"Really good game for us in terms of the things we asked our players to do," she said. 'You know, [Tulsa is] such a guard-heavy team. As we say in our locker room, they're very 'squirty' guards.

"They're about 5-foot-2 and they squirt through every little opening that you give them. I thought we had tremendous, tremendous focus on [Temeka] Johnson, [Ivory] Latta, [Riquna] Williams."

Johnson, Latta and Williams combined for just 17 points.

"We don't do it without our posts -- our posts are a part of that," Reeve said. "I thought we had great focus. I thought our contesting of shots was really, really good early in the game, and I thought that got us off to the great start we got off to. They made a little run. They started trapping, doing some stuff, and we weren't as organized as we had hoped to be. But we were able to get through it.

"I'm really happy with our defense. [Tulsa shot] 33.8 percent and just [1-for-14] from the three-point line, which is refreshing after the number of games that we've had where they were dropping threes on our heads. Overall, a good game for us, a great way to go into the break."

The Lynx (15-4) are now until Aug. 17 when they play Washington at home. Then, two days later, Tulsa will return to Target Center. That's right, the Lynx play the Shock three times in a four-game stretch. In August, the Shock will be a lot bigger in the middle. Liz Cambage, a 6-8 center, will rejoin the Shock. She missed the first half of the WNBA to practice with Australia for the London Summer Olympics.

The Lynx came into this week with three losses in a row, to San Antonio and Los Angeles on the road and to Connecticut at home.

That had Reeve a little concerned. "Any team that we were playing was going to smell blood," she said. "And that's what I told our team. I was really happy with how we responded. There is not a team in the league that's rooting for us.

"There's a three-game losing streak. I tell you what -- a lot of the teams were tuning into the Lynx playing [on Thursday] just to see us lose. I think that gave us a little bit of resolve, to know that it's only us, and it will always be just us, that wants us to be successful. It just required us to dig down a little bit deeper. We didn't lose to bad teams. That was a hard week. We gave the teams that we played credit, and I can guarantee you the next time we play those teams, we'll be ready for them."

As the Lynx always seem to be for overmatches Tulsa. They have beaten the Shock nine times in a row.

MORE REEVE

Playoff games? Really. Very much doubt Washington or Tulsa will get anywhere close to playoff this year. And the Lynx don't want to peak too early.

* On Maya Moore's 28 points: "Maya was just tremendous in that [second-quarter] stretch where she scored 10 straight and really got us going."

* On team's three Olympians: "So we're proud of them. We want them to do well. We told them they're representing not only their family, their hometowns and their country, but most importantly the Minnesota Lynx."

There was a cake in the Lynx locker room after the Tulsa game. It was there in honor of the Olympians, wishing them well.

MOORE'S RECORD QUARTER

Made 13-foot jump shot, with an assist from Monica Wright, Lynx 24-23, :25

Missed 15-foot jump shot, 1:30

Moore made one of two free throws, 31-31, 2:45 ... first of her 10 points in a row

Made layup, assist from Lindsay Whalen, Lynx 33-31, 3:26

Made layup, assist from Whalen, Lynx 35-31, 3:46

Made 21-foot shot for three-point, assist from Candice Wiggins, 5:30 ... last points in her 10-0 run

Missed 22-foot, three-point shot, 6:26

Made two free throws, Lynx 44-33, 6:42

Made two free throws, Lynx 48-33, 7:29

Made reverse layup, assist from Amber Harris, Lynx 54-36, 9:16

Moore had 26 points at halftime, but did not attempt a shot from the field in the second half. She did make two free throws to finish with 28 points. She also had four rebounds and four fouls in 11:05 before fouling out.

OLYMPIANS' PARTING WORDS

Said guard Lindsay Whalen, "I just want to definitely take it all in and represent the Lynx, my family, Hutchinson, the state of Minnesota. Just try and do the best I can on the court and then off the court. Just try and see some other events and kind of see the city. I've never been to London, so that will be fun.

"It's a great group of people to be around, Team USA. So do the whole experience, just try and take it all in and have fun and play hard."

This is her first time on the U.S. team.

"The Olympics is just an opportunity for us to able to play against and with the world's best players, to go and enjoy seeing other athletes in that element," Augustus said. "We want to go and see the track, the volleyball players [and] the gymnastic athletes. It's just an opportunity to share a great experience, not only with ourselves and our families, but I have two teammates with me. So it will be a lot of fun."

On her advice to Whalen and Moore: "Just enjoy the moment. It's going to be crazy. We've got a lot of stuff to do in a short period of time but whenever we can, just try and enjoy the moment as they come around."

Augustus is leaving with good thoughts about the Lynx. "We're feeling a little bit more confident about ourselves, especially our defense," she said. "That's something that we've been talking about since the last two losses that we've had. Today, we got after it in the first half and it continued in the second half. When a team shoots 7 percent from the three-point line, you did an excellent job. That's something that they're good at, making three-point shots and forcing teams into tough situations."

Moore on the Olympics: "There's going to be a lot of activity going on and we're going to have to do a good job staying focused on why we're there. Once the games start, I think it's going to be a lot of fun playing with everybody just because it's such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with this group, not knowing who's going to retire, who's going to be there next Olympics. So I'm just looking forward to it…

"[Team USA] is something I've been a part of since I was 18 and I get the chance at 23 to be able to represent my country at the Olympics. It's something I'm going to be smiling about for the rest of my life, so I'm excited to be out there."

"It's really cool to have Seimone and Lindsay there with me." Moore said. "It just makes me smile to see where they are in their careers, to come back from injuries and different trials that Seimone did to winning a championship last year and getting to go back to another Olympics, and Lindsay Whalen coming in for an Olympics… So it's really fun and I think there's going to be a comfort level there with those two that I have more than usual. So it's a really good feeling."

Moore said Reeve told her to "stay healthy and represent and have fun. Bring back a gold."

LYNX NOT SUPERHUMAN THIS GAME

The Lynx set a WNBA record on Tuesday, shooting 69.5 percent in beating Tulsa 107-86. Shock coach Gary Kloppenburg knew his team couldn't allow that again on Thursday.

"The other night, we just felt like we defensively kind of let them do everything they wanted to do," he said. "So we really wanted to try to come out and at least fight them and give them a little resistance tonight. I thought we did a better job of that. I know they're at 43 percent, which is more of a normal situation.

THE X FACTOR: MAYA

Kloppenburg was asked if the Lynx are the WNBA's best team.
"To me they are, because they're so deep," he said. "With Maya -- she's to me the X-factor because she moves around so well. When she gives the ball up, getting it back so well moving without the ball. She's just really, really difficult to guard. She can post up, she can pull outside, she runs the floor really well. She's just a complete player.

To me, that's the difference, [she] gives them that edge. This is a deep team. [They] really don't have any weaknesses."

Kloppenburg has seen Moore at her best. She has scored 26, 24 and 28 points against the Shock. Hmm, that's givesd Moore a 26-point average against Tulsa.