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Thursday, Jun. 22 8:00pm ET
Starzz win streak stops at four | |||||
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BOX SCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brian Agler of the Minnesota Lynx rejects the notion that he is the coach of a one-woman team. In recent days, he might get a legitimate argument. Katie Smith rebounded Thursday night from a rare poor performance with 21 points, leading the Lynx to an 86-64 rout of the Utah Starzz. The win ended Minnesota's two-game losing streak and ended Utah's team-record winning streak at four games. "She sets the tone for us," Agler said of Smith, who helped the Lynx to a franchise-record five-game winning streak last week and was named the WNBA's player of the week. "The more aggressive she plays, the better off we are. That aggressive play helps her get to the free-throw line and helps her get offensive rebounds." Smith's performance was in stark contrast to Tuesday night's home loss to Phoenix, in which she scored a season-low 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting, and the Lynx lost by 19 points. Minnesota (7-4) pulled away from the Starzz early, taking an 11-2 lead and holding an advantage of 10 points or better for the final 33 minutes. Utah (7-6), which was led by 13 points from Adrienne Goodson and 12 from Amy Herrig, trailed by 21 at halftime and didn't get closer than 16 in the second half. "Minnesota played well and showed us some hard, aggressive defense," Utah coach Fred Williams said. "But we had some good looks and some chances to make things happen defensively, and we didn't do it." Utah was playing its second consecutive game without star forward Natalie Williams, who strained her back on Sunday. "Utah's a good team, but they're missing Natalie, which obviously had a detrimental effect on their effort," said Agler, whose team pulled down a season-high 37 rebounds. Fred Williams said that Natalie might return Friday night when the Starzz play host to Houston. "After losing two in a row, it was a case where we could have gotten on the wrong track," Lynx forward Kristin Folkl said. "With the seasons so short in this league, we can't afford that. So this effort and this win was very important." | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Phoenix 90 Charlotte 57
Minnesota 86
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