History is on the line on Tuesday night at the Target Center as the Minnesota Lynx host the Indiana Fever.
It’s only the 11th game of the WNBA season, but if the Lynx win it, they will have put together an 11-0 start, the best in league history. Whose record would they break? Well, theirs, actually. They started out 10-0 back in 2012.
A team right behind the Lynx are the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks are 9-0 overall. The Sparks play tomorrow night at 9:30 against the Chicago Sky, but that’s a talk for another time.
“Stuff like that is more stuff talked about with the media,” said Lynx point guard Renee Montgomery. “With us, we’re just worried about getting through practice without getting in trouble.”
While the players might not be showing their poker hand, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said on Monday afternoon that the team is very aware of the record.
“(We’re) very aware,” Reeve said. “Because we were the ones that did it before, you know? But, you know how this group is. Those are things that come with staying in the moment, paying attention to detail and what it takes to win tomorrow night’s game. That’s a bigger picture thing.”
The Fever are just 4-6 overall, but Lynx fans are well aware that they are a very tough matchup. The Lynx played Indiana on May 27 at home and beat the Fever 74-71, but the Lynx led 29-6 after the first quarter before struggling for the rest of the game.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN 2.
More History
A hot early-season start isn’t the only history that could be made tomorrow. Assuming that Indiana and Minnesota don’t meet up in the playoffs, this will be the last game that future Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings plays in the Target Center.
Throughout her career, Catchings has averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Her bio is a lengthy one and she’s been an icon and a leader on and off the court for the WNBA since being drafted third overall in the 2001 Draft.
“I think that what Tamika would want to be said about her legacy is that her ability to combine being such a great person off the court, all that she’s done with Catch the Stars,” Reeve said. “What she’s done for kids, what she’s done for not just the Indianapolis community, but the WNBA community.”
And while she is retiring, there’s still plenty of game left in her, as we saw on Sunday as she put up 27 points against Seattle. Reeve knows that the team can’t sleep on Catchings, even if she isn’t as good as she once was.
“She could certainly keep playing,” Reeve said. “… She will give it all the way to the finish line.”