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Lynx-Sky Preview

Aug 6, 2010 - 5:11 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Minnesota (9-16) at Chicago (12-16), 3:00 p.m. EDT

Following a second straight difficult win, the Minnesota Lynx feel like they're becoming more resilient.

That newfound toughness will be put to the test over the regular season's final two weeks.

The Lynx try to match a season high with a third consecutive victory when they open a daunting portion of the schedule Saturday against the struggling Chicago Sky.

After playing eight of its previous nine games at home, six of Minnesota's final nine will be on the road. The Lynx (9-16), in the mix with San Antonio and Los Angeles for one of the Western Conference's final playoff spots, have lost three straight road games and are 3-8 away from Minnesota.

"We have nine games left," rookie Monica Wright told the Lynx's official website. "So we definitely want to take advantage of them and we just want to end off on a good note."

Minnesota heads into this final stretch with some momentum. After ending Seattle's 13-game winning streak with a 72-71 victory Sunday, the Lynx defeated Connecticut 111-103 in overtime Tuesday.

Minnesota, which hasn't won three straight since June 18-22, looked like it would coast to an easy victory over the Sun, leading by 30 midway through the second quarter. Connecticut came charging back, though, and sent the game to overtime on Renee Montgomery's 3-pointer as time expired.

Lindsay Whalen then helped the Lynx avoid a stunning defeat, scoring 10 of her season-best 27 points in the extra frame.

"We knew we had to come out and still focus and win," said Whalen, who also matched a season high with 12 assists. "It shows that we're learning from some of our earlier mistakes and hopefully turning the corner on winning some of these close ones."

Prior to winning its last two games, Minnesota had lost five straight with three defeats coming by three points or fewer.

The Sky (12-16) have also been on wrong end of several close games lately, significantly hurting their playoff chances.

With an 82-77 loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Chicago dropped the final four contests of a season-high five-game road trip. Three defeats were by five points or fewer for Chicago, which is last in the East with six games left.

The Sky trailed the Sparks 76-75 with 54.3 seconds to play, but couldn't get any closer. Jia Perkins, who missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, finished with a team-high 16 points.

"It's unfortunate for us," Chicago coach Steven Key said. "We knew a month ago that every game was going to be a 'must' win."

The Sky, who are trying to avoid losing five consecutive games for the first time since June 13-26, 2008, defeated Minnesota 73-58 on May 29. Sylvia Fowles led Chicago with 18 points, while Whalen scored 11 for the Lynx despite missing 10 of 12 field goals.