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Jul 14, 2009 - 11:06 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Atlanta (6-8) at Minnesota (9-5), 1:00 p.m. EDT

Thanks in part to Roneeka Hodges' hot 3-point shooting, the Minnesota Lynx have remained near the top of the Western Conference even with their leading scorer out for the season.

Hodges also helped lead the Lynx past Atlanta in the teams' first meeting, and Minnesota will try to complete the season sweep when the Dream continue their five-game road trip Wednesday.

The Lynx's strong start seemed in jeopardy when Seimone Augustus suffered a season-ending knee injury in the sixth game, but Minnesota (9-5) is 5-3 without Augustus and remains one game behind Phoenix for the top spot in the West.

Moving into a starting role, Hodges has played a big part, scoring in double digits in her last seven games. She is 30 of 64 (46.9 percent) from 3-point range this year, ranking second in the league among those with at least 30 attempts.

She has hit 8 of 12 (66.7 percent) in her last three contests, including 4 of 6 in Sunday's 83-76 win at San Antonio. Hodges scored 21 points to supplement Charde Houston's career-high 26.

"I'm loving Roneeka right now," Lynx coach Jennifer Gillom said of Hodges, who was acquired Houston in December's dispersal draft. "I think that she's probably one of the biggest surprises of this team. She's doing an excellent job of playing very confident and playing like a veteran and giving us some leadership out there as well."

Hodges was 5 of 7 on 3-point attempts in Minnesota's 91-85 win at Atlanta on June 30, when Candice Wiggins hit 4 of 7 and led the way with 23 points.

Gillom, however, said the Dream tried to focus on stopping the Lynx's outside shooting, which enabled Houston and center Nicky Anosike to combine for 33 points.

"I think their focus last game was to eliminate Candice and Roneeka shooting 3-pointers," Gillom said. "So that's why Charde and Nicky were so successful inside. Hopefully they'll choose one or the other."

With a front line led by Erika DeSouza and Sancho Lyttle, the Dream's strength lies inside, where they have averaged nearly three more rebounds than their opponents.

The Lynx have been outrebounded by about the same margin, but they had a 37-34 edge on the boards the last time the teams played.

"That's not our strong point, but I thought we did a great job against them last time and hopefully we will have the same results as last time," Gillom said.

The Dream (6-8) will be hoping for a similar result to their last visit to Minnesota, where they earned one of their four wins during their inaugural season last year. They beat the Lynx 73-67 last July 9.

Atlanta has already improved on its win total, but it has lost four of its last six, including a 71-69 defeat Saturday at New York in the opener of a five-game trip. The club has dropped three straight on the road, where it is 1-5 this year.