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Sun-Lynx Preview

Aug 6, 2009 - 4:46 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Connecticut (10-9) at Minnesota (10-10), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The Minnesota Lynx find themselves in the same position they were in last season after 20 games. This time, they want to finish strong and reach the postseason.

The Lynx try to end a three-game slide Friday night when they host Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen and the Connecticut Sun.

Just like last year, Minnesota (10-10) has split its first 20 games. The youthful Lynx went 6-8 the rest of the way in 2008 and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Despite losing star guard Seimone Augustus for the season to a torn ACL on June 17, Minnesota believes it can create a different ending this year. The Lynx are currently in playoff position in the Western Conference.

"It's hard to say where we were last year," guard Candice Wiggins told the Lynx's official Web site. "We're kind of at the point that our expectations weren't that high. But when you have really high expectations, you do the things that are going to help you meet those goals."

If Minnesota wants to reach the playoffs, it will have to snap out of its recent habit of starting poorly. The Lynx have fallen behind by an average of 7.7 points during their skid, including an 87-74 loss to Phoenix last Saturday in which they trailed by as many as 33 points.

"We just have to find ourselves again," Minnesota coach Jennifer Gillom said. "I would have been worried had we not fought back. That shows a sign of life in this team. They want to win."

The Lynx will also have to try to find a way to notch a rare win over Connecticut (10-9), which has won seven of the last eight meetings - all since Whalen was drafted fourth overall by the Sun in 2004. Whalen is a native of Hutchinson, Minn. who led the University of Minnesota to the Final Four in 2004 as a senior.

Whalen enters off one of her best efforts of the season in Sunday's 83-65 win at Detroit. She scored a season-high 22 points and added four assists as the Sun ended their three-game losing streak.

"We were just trying to be really aggressive," Whalen said. "The last week or so we've been in a little rough patch of our season. We just wanted to come out aggressively tonight and get us into our sets quick."

Connecticut is in a similar situation as Minnesota, currently holding one of the four playoff spots in the East as it closes a four-game road trip.