Running game got Lynx rolling in second win

The Lynx's 80-62 win at New York (actually game was at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.) was their sixth on the road in a row in regular-season play. That's a franchise record.

The Lynx broke away from the Liberty with a 17-4 run which began midway through the second quarter and went into the third.

"Once we got the ball moving a little bit," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, according to a Liberty news release, "once we started playing off of our defense, getting out and running and creating out-numbered situations, things got a little easier for us."

Getting the ball in guard Seimone Augustus' hands helped, too. She scored 22 points, showing no ill effects from hurting her ribs on Sunday.

Augustus was nine of 14 from the field. And three of the other starters also had good games. Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Rebekkah Brunson almost got one, too, with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Second-year pro Maya Moore looked comfortable with 15 points and a career-hihg seven assists.

Only Lindsay Whalen was quiet. She had only four points and one assists versus three turnovers.

Said Augustus, "In the second half, we wanted to pick up the defense. We knew Cappie [Pondexter] was going to come out and be a little bit more aggressive than the first half. …We were active. We got a lot of hands on the ball. We got a lot of transition in and tried to get to the line a little bit more and be patient on offense."

* The bench didn't look nearly as good as it did in the Lynx' first game when it had 40 points. On Tuesday , reserves had just 15 points, eight by guard Monica Wright who had two late baskets.

* Rookie Devereaux Peters, the No. 3 overall pick in the WNBA, was all but invisible. The 6-2 center/forward had one foul and nothing else -- not one point, rebound, nothing -- in nine minutes.

TIRED LOSER?

Liberty coach John Whisenant said his team, despite being at home, might have had tired legs against the Lynx.

"We played a doubleheader, which we weren't really sharp in; then we come back and play this game," Whisenant said. "We had a crisp practice [Mon]day and I just think in an effort to get them where they needed to be in a hurry, we may have knocked the legs out [Tuesday].

"You can't make up for lost ground, but I'm hoping to give them a day off, have a good sharp practice, and get on the plane on Thursday and go to Atlanta and play well."

Pondexter, a quick, veteran guard, led the Liberty with 15 points but she did it on volume (6x23) not on taking quality shots. She was 1x7 on threes.

"I do not want to go into a game and shoot 23 times, that is not my game," Pondexter said. "It is too hard to get the team together.

"I think going into Atlanta we have to pound the ball inside. We have a lot key big players. We need to make an impact inside, that way we can get an open shot and not make it hard for the perimeter. Right now it is tough and crowded and we are not making it easy for ourselves."

Is that confidence or overconfidence?