Lynx shut down Western rival

Any questions about the Lynx's defense were positively answered on Friday.

Minnesota went ahead and buried those Saturday.

Three days after turning in their worst defensive performance of 2011 in a loss to Phoenix, the Lynx set a season low for points allowed in a 69-62 victory over Seattle at Target Center.

The victory lifted Minnesota into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.

"Some losses loom large for a team," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of Wednesday's 112-105 loss to the Mercury. "For us, that's not who we want to be. Sometimes that has to happen to make that recognition, and I thought we had a great deal of emphasis on our defense. Two games of pretty good D, so we got back to who we are."

The Lynx limited Eastern Conference-leading Indiana to 70 points and 28 percent shooting on Friday and followed a similar script against Seattle, stifling a depleted Storm lineup during a 22-2 run across the second and third quarters.

Down by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, Seattle cut the deficit to six with 1:33 left. But two key offensive rebounds and four Lindsay Whalen free throws helped avert a late collapse.

"The last game we had at home, our defensive effort wasn't focused, it wasn't together," forward Maya Moore said. "We took the mistakes and fixed them tonight."

Seimone Augustus had a team-high 19 points and Rebekkah Brunson added 16 for the Lynx, who are 9-4 for the first time in franchise history.

Playing without starter Camille Little, who was at a wedding, and three-time MVP Lauren Jackson, who had hip surgery on June 30, the Storm got 49 total points from Swin Cash, Sue Bird and Tanisha Wright.

Not much else materialized offensively. Katie Smith, starting in Little's place, shot 2-for-11. Seattle shot 37.9 percent from the field.

The Lynx hardly made things easy.

The Storm went scoreless through the first 6:23 of the second half as Minnesota, tops in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions, built up enough of a cushion to hold off the Storm's late run.

"We made the right in-game adjustments," said Whalen, whose rebound with 8:51 left in the second quarter made her the sixth player in WNBA history with 2,500 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. "Different things they were doing that were hurting us, we took those away."

With a tight race in the West, finishing July on a strong note will be crucial. Beginning Wednesday at Phoenix, the Lynx's next eight games are against playoff contenders. They won't face a losing team until Aug. 14.

"We're not there yet," Moore said. "We've played well, but I think there's an even higher level of focus and togetherness that we can have defensively."

Given the past two nights, that's a scary thought for opponents.