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Lynx-Liberty Preview

Jun 21, 2010 - 7:51 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Minnesota (4-9) at New York (4-6), 7:30 p.m. EDT

A successful weekend has the Minnesota Lynx feeling they're headed in the right direction.

The Lynx look to notch a third straight victory and end a four-game skid at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night against the struggling New York Liberty.

Minnesota (4-9) was saddled with the worst record in the league before sweeping a home-and-home series with Tulsa over the weekend. Seimone Augustus averaged 22.5 points and made a total of nine 3-pointers in the two wins.

"Our goal was to sweep Tulsa in these two games and we were very focused on that goal," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We knew that by doing that, it would set the stage for taking us to the next level. We accomplished that and are ready to move forward."

The Lynx shot 51 percent from the field, including 12 for 19 (63 percent) on 3-pointers in a 92-78 road win Saturday. They finished with 21 assists and 12 steals, and forced the Shock into 21 turnovers.

"We didn't turn the ball over," Reeve said. "We forced them into turnovers. A combination of all those things translated into a win."

Augustus is averaging 18.0 points in four games since recovering from a torn ACL and abdominal surgery. The Lynx, who haven't won at MSG since a 64-60 win July 15, 2005, are finally getting healthier after star guard Candice Wiggins also missed four games.

That could be bad news for New York (4-6), the top 3-point shooting team in the league at 37.9 percent. Newcomer Cappie Pondexter is second in the league in scoring with 20.7 points per game, but the Liberty have had trouble inside.

That was the case Friday in a 92-84 home loss to league-best Seattle. Pondexter scored 24 for the Liberty, who were outrebounded 33-21.

The game marked the New York debut for Plenette Pierson, who had 10 points and three assists after being acquired from Tulsa on June 14 for fourth-year forward Tiffany Jackson.

"Plenette did a great job getting out in transition, and Taj (McWilliams-Franklin) here and there," coach Anne Donovan said. "Seattle did a great job in their transition defense, getting back. I think they contained us. ... We didn't get anything easy in transition."

Pierson averaged 15.0 points in three games against the Lynx this year for Tulsa.

Minnesota will try to forget a terrible game in its last visit to New York on Aug. 23, 2009, when it blew an early 13-point lead in an 80-67 loss. The Lynx made 3 of 20 3-pointers, and Wiggins hit 1 of 10 shots for six points.