Moore, Cruz Lead Lynx Past Sky

Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

 Another game for the Minnesota Lynx, another 20+ point performance for forward Maya Moore; more importantly another Lynx victory.

Moore finished the night with 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead Minnesota to a 84-66 victory over the Chicago Sky. The Lynx have now won three straight and Moore has scored 20+ points in six straight games, one shy of the franchise record (held by Moore herself).

Before the game the Lynx received devastating news that All-Star guard Seimone Augustus had undergone an arthroscopy on her right knee. There will be no timetable for her return.

Guard Anna Cruz got the start in place of Augustus and had a stellar night. Cruz not only helped to shut down one of the league’s highest scorers in Sky guard Cappie Pondexter, but she also contributed offensively, and in a big way.

Cruz finished the night with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

“Anna, in her first start for the Lynx, was absolutely terrific,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “She just gave us so much determination and energy, and we fed off it.”

Her teammates were impressed as well.

“She’s a pro,” said Moore. “This isn’t new for her, but I’m just so impressed how she can come in mentally and get everything we’re trying to do. Its taken us all of Training Camp and building up to this point of the season and she’s only been here a little while but she can just hop in and get it and go.”

Lynx center Asjha Jones had her best game in a Lynx uniform tonight, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

“I’m always looking for my teammates first and tonight I got more opportunities to shoot the ball and eventually they started to go in.”

The Sky started the night shooting well, shooting 15-of-35 (42.9 percent) in the first half, but fell victim to some extremely tough Minnesota defense in the second half.

Chicago’s All-Star guard duo of Pondexter and Elena Della Donne are two of the top scorers in the WNBA and the Lynx held them to relatively quiet nights; Pondexter finished with just four points on 2-of-9 (22 percent) shooting while Della Donne, the league’s leading scorer at 28.8 points per game, was held to just 14 points on 5-of-15 (33 percent) shooting.

After the Sky handed Minnesota a loss last Friday night in Chicago, the Lynx returned the favor on their own home floor tonight.

LEADER OF THE PACK: ANNA CRUZ

Yes Maya Moore scored 29 points and yes it was her sixth consecutive 20+ point performance, but not enough can be said about the performance of Cruz.

Finding out just before the game that she would be making her first Lynx start in place of the injured All-Star Augustus, Cruz came out and played well. In fact, she played really well.

“We told Anna that she doesn’t have to be Seimone Augustus, she just needs to be Anna Cruz,” said Reeve. Cruz did exactly that.

Finishing with 16, eight rebounds and five assists was impressive, but Cruz’s defensive effort was what truly shown through tonight.

Matched up against one of the top-scoring guards in the league in Cappie Pondexter, Cruz forced her to take tough shots all night, holding Pondexter to just four points on 2-of-9 shooting and forced Pondexter to commit three turnovers.

There are few players that could fill-in for an All-Star guard like Augustus but even fewer that could fill-in and play as well on such short notice as Cruz did.

PLAY OF THE GAME

This game didn’t necessarily have a singular play that made the game; this game had a whole stretch of plays.

Midway through the second quarter, the Lynx trailed by 10 and their offense had become stagnant, when Maya Moore did what she always does and knocked down a huge jumper from the top of the key. Clearly animated and excited after such a basket, Moore fueled her teammates to score more, particularly Lindsay Whalen. The next three trips down the floor, Whalen nailed two three-pointers and knocked down a corner jumper to set the Lynx on an 8-0 run and pull them back into the game.

QUOTEABLE

“Lindsay decided that she was going to be our three-point shooter for the night,” Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve talking about guard Lindsay Whalen’s back-to-back three-point shots that ignited a huge run for the Lynx.

UP NEXT

The Lynx have a quick turnaround once again and will be traveling to Tulsa to take on the Shock on Sunday night. The game will be a battle of Western Conference foes and will start at 3:30 P.M. CT.