Alexander Shun

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Minnesota Lynx (4-1) vs. San Antonio Stars (0-4), 7:00 P.M. CST

WHERE TO WATCH: No TV

WHERE TO LISTEN: 106.1 BOB FM

Another Lynx game, another winless opponent.

After knocking off the winless Los Angeles Sparks 67-52 in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, the Lynx now head to San Antonio to take on the Stars.

Coming off a loss to the Mercury on Sunday, the Lynx bounced back against the Sparks in a big way.

The Lynx fixed some of their shooting woes and avoided the high number of turnovers that had plagued them through their first few games.

They finished the game shooting 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) and committed only eight turnovers, a dramatic improvement from past games.

Entering the game against the Sparks, the Lynx had four players averaging double-figures, yet were led by forward Maya Moore and guard Seimone Augustus. Moore poured in a game-high 22 points to go with four rebounds and four assists, while Augustus added 20 points, three rebounds and four assists.

The two players scored or assisted on 59 of the team’s 67 points (88 percent of the team’s points).

Meanwhile, the Stars are off to their worst start in 10 years after losing to the Shock 88-61 on Tuesday afternoon. Although they were able to slightly improve the rebounding problems that had plagued them (the Stars are last in the league in rebounding at 29.3 rebounds per game), they were unable to shoot efficiently and simply could not stop the post play of Shock forward Plenette Pierson.

If the Stars want to beat the Lynx, they are going to have improve dramatically on the boards, especially when going up against one of the league’s top rebounder in Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson. Brunson is averaging just over nine rebounds per game, good for third-best in the league. Brunson will look to improve that total when facing a Star’s team that has given up 29 offensive rebounds in their last two games.

The Stars, despite their 0-4 record, have been in the majority of their games right up to the final buzzer, losing their games for a variety of reasons. An inability to score in the final minute of their opener cost them the game, a late offensive foul in their second game led to another loss and then a late run gave away their third game. The Stars may be a fairly seasoned team, but they are still finding ways to give games away late; the Lynx will look to take advantage of that.

LAST MEETING

The Lynx and the Stars last met at the AT&T Center in San Antonio last August for the Western Conference Semifinals.

The Lynx won the game 94-89, sweeping the series 2-0 and consequently ending the career of Star’s guard and six-time All-Star Becky Hammon. Hammon decided to retire and pursue a career coaching instead; she is now an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.

The Stars came out strong, running up a 22-4 lead early in the first half, but failed to maintain such a lead against a resistant Lynx squad.

The Lynx closed the first half on a 18-8 run and cut the Stars’ lead to just four, then used a 14-5 run to close the third quarter and grab a 67-64 lead heading into the final quarter.

Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen had a game-high 31 points to go with her seven rebounds and four assists. Guard Seimone Augustus added 21 points and forward Maya Moore added 16 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and four blocks.

Stars guard Kayla McBride scored 25 points and center Jia Perkins added 17 points off the bench, but it wasn’t enough. Forward Danielle Adams also added 23 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Hammon had 12 points and four assists in her final career game.

KEY MATCHUP: LINDSAY WHALEN VS. STARS’ SHOT BLOCKERS

Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen is a tough veteran that likes to drive the lane, get contact and draw fouls. The Stars are ready to defend exactly that.

The Stars have two of the top five shot blockers in the league right now in center Jane Appel (2.8 blocks per game, first in league) and center Kayla Alexander (1.8 blocks per game, fifth in league) and they will be looking to shut down Whalen’s drives to the lane.

Whalen has 22 free-throw attempts thus far this season, and a majority of them have come from Whalen’s penetration of the lane. When Whalen penetrates on Friday night though, Appel and Alexander will be there waiting; and they don’t foul much either.

The shot-blocking duo only averages two fouls per game per player, while Whalen averages over five free-throw attempts per game.

If Whalen can get the pair in early foul-trouble, the lane will open up and Lynx players can then penetrate at-will. However, if they can avoid committing fouls and stop the Lynx drives, they would force the Lynx to make jump-shots, something they have struggled to do thus far this season.

It’s going to be a very physical matchup and it’ll be fun to see which side wins.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Lynx: PG – Whalen, SG – Augustus, SF – Moore, PF – Brunson, C – Dantas

Stars: PG – Robinson, SG – Perkins, SF – Hamby, PF – McBride, C – Appel