Lynx dethrone Monarchs from long-range

BY MIKE PEDEN

The Minnesota Lynx's Kelly Miller scored a season-high 12 points in the 1st quarter against the Sacramento Monarchs Friday night at Target Center.

There was still 3:17 left in the first quarter when she passed her previous mark of 10.

"It was really important for us to come out strong right out of the gates and set the tone for the rest of the game," Miller said.

Miller added two three-pointers to finish the game with 18 points, leading the Lynx (12-16) to a key 100-95 win against the Monarchs (9-20). Miller made all four of her three-point shots.

The Lynx win snapped their six-game losing streak and put themselves a game ahead of San Antonio for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with just six games left in the season.

Miller was far from alone. Six Lynx players scored double-figures in a game where virtually none of their first-half shots missed. The Lynx made 70% of their shots in the first half against the Monarchs' 50%, leaping to a 64-50 halftime lead.

"That's hard to beat in a horse contest with no defense out there," said Monarchs head coach John Whisenant.

That left the Monarchs playing catch up throughout the third. Then they lost starting guard Ticha Penichiero to a concussion after a collision with Lynx center Nicky Anosike with 6:38 to go in the fourth.

Despite bringing the game to one possession twice late in the fourth, the Lynx were too good from the free throw line to let Sacramento steal another win at Target Center.

When the buzzer sounded, the Lynx made 16 out of 28 three-point shots, with forward Roneeka Hodges going five for eight and forward Tasha Humphrey draining three of six.

"We weren't as aggressive on defense as we should have," said Monarchs player Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, who scored a game-high 20 points. "Give credit to them for not giving up, even though we made our runs."

After blowing a good start early in the season, the Lynx are hoping the win builds momentum as four of their final six games are on the road.

"We had a tough month. For us to get this victory, it gave us a lot of confidence," said Lynx forward Roneeka Hodges.

The Monarchs loss leaves them 3 1/2 games behind the last playoff spot with only five games to play. The Monarchs will likely need to win all their remaining games to have a chance at making the post-season, a difficult task with Olympian Kara Lawson out for the remainder of the season.

"I don't know if that's going to be good enough, but that's all we can worry about," said Monarchs forward Nicole Powell, who scored 18 points.

"We're not going to worry about Minnesota. If we don't win our games, it won't matter," Maiga-Ba said.