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Lawson leads Monarchs' balanced effort in win over Lynx

May 21, 2007 - 1:52 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- After suffering a loss in the WNBA Finals rematch against the Detroit Shock, Kara Lawson was not about to let her team suffer a defeat at the hands of the Western Conference's worst team from a year ago.

Lawson scored 19 points and led four players in double figures as the Sacramento Monarchs continued their recent dominance over the Minnesota Lynx with a 74-64 victory Sunday.

Lawson scored seven points over the last four minutes of the game to help the defending Western Conference champion Monarchs post their ninth straight win over Minnesota.

With the Lynx facing a 41-27 halftime deficit, reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Seimone Augustus scored 11 third-period points, keying an 18-10 run that narrowed the gap to 51-45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Following Kristin Haynie's jumper that pushed the lead back out to seven, Minnesota forward Kathrin Ress nailed the Lynx's first shot from the arc of the game at 8:32 of the final period to trim the Monarchs' lead to 52-48. Nicole Powell countered with two 3-pointers in the next 1:02 to push the lead back to 58-48.

However, Augustus would not let the Lynx fade, as she scored three points during an 11-5 run over the next 4:08 that trimmed the Monarchs' advantage to four at 60-56. Sacramento responded with its own 11-5 spurt from the 3:22 mark on to end the game.

Augustus scored 28 points to lead the Lynx.