Something strange is developing at Target Center.

The Lynx, a WNBA doormat the past several seasons, is 4-0 after beating Phoenix 94-83 on Saturday before an announced 6,914 fans.

The Mercury came into the game 0-3, with all three losses by five points or fewer to playoff-caliber teams. But Phoenix was the defending league champion, with stars Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi in its backcourt.

Both guards were averaging more than 20 points and, before the game, were announced as selections to the U.S. Olympic team, as was Lynx star Seimone Augustus.

Augustus had a team-high 22 points against the Mercury, but she is counted on to score like that. This season she has help -- lots of it.

Rookies Charde Houston and Candice Wiggins, longtime friends who grew up in San Diego, were productive coming off the bench. Each had a double-double for the first time as professionals.

Houston, an undersized 5-11 forward, had 18 points and 13 rebounds. And Wiggins, playing point guard much of the game, had 17 points and 12 assists -- two shy of the team record. The Mercury, as a team, had 13 assists.

"It was easy when you have players that find ways to score," said Wiggins, stunned when told her assist numbers. "So it's really not me. It's just me finding the person.

"When you've got Seimone and Charde on your team it's easy to get assists, and even Vanessa [Hayden-Johnson]. I got a lot from her."

One Wiggins pass especially had fans roaring. She zipped a ball from midcourt to Houston under the basket for an easy layup, giving the Lynx a 76-69 lead.

Until then the Mercury had outscored the Lynx 18-2 on fast breaks.

"You are not tired when you come into the game" as a reserve, Wiggins said, "so you can really bring the energy."

Pondexter scored 31 points, but she needed 27 shots to do so. Taurasi, harassed mostly by Anna DeForge, had 17 points, eight in the fourth quarter.

A year ago, the Lynx started the season 0-7 and tied for the league's worst record, finishing 10-24 for the second season in a row. Now the Lynx are the league's last unbeaten.

"[Our rookies] don't have any clue about what happened in the past and I don't think they really care," said Augustus, in her third pro season. "All they are supposed to know is right now. They came in with that mind-set. All they know is winning and that's what they brought here."

Wiggins, Houston and 6-2 starting center Nicky Anosike, another rookie who added nine points and six rebounds, all played in the Final Four on different teams in April.

"Last year we kept hearing the same thing, 'Oh, it's going to come, ladies,' " Augustus said. "Now it's, 'We got to keep it up.' It feels a lot better to be the one everyone is chasing."

And unusual.