On Saturday, Sylvia Fowles continued her WNBA-dominating season by scoring 26 points in the Lynx 100-77 victory over the Seattle Storm, which came into the game with a 4-1 record and hopes of ending Minnesota's undefeated run.
Fowles had all of her points in the first half, which the Lynx ended with a 25-point lead.
But her presence dominated the second half, too.
Here's how, in the words of Mike Peden, who writes about the WNBA on Fansided's Summitt Hoops blog: The Storm "adjusted their defensive scheme in the second half, doubling Fowles when she touched the ball. That should prevent the Lynx from scoring, right? Wrong. Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen took over. ... As the saying goes, when you apply a double team, someone has to be open."
The Lynx ended up shooting 59.4 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-point shots, totals that were dragged down a bit by a reserve-laden fourth quarter. Brunson hit all but one of her 10 field-goal tries and Whalen hit all but two of her 10, including 3 out of 4 on three-pointers.
Peden wrote about Whalen:: The 35-year-old has embraced her new role as a perimeter threat, and although she's not the primary option on Lynx offensive schemes, she's still a darn good choice."
You can ready his full blog post here,
Their shooting display meant that another low-scoring game from Maya Moore (6 points on 2-for-6 shooting) didn't matter at all.
Fowles, for her part, is s constant right now among the WNBA's league leaders. She's second in rebounding and blocked shots, third in scoring and field goal percentage and fourth in steals and free-throw attempts. It was enough for her to win the WNBA's first two player of the week awards and be named player of the month for May in the Western Conference.
Here are the highlights:
