MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota already faced the task of defeating
a team it had never beaten before. So when the Lynx played the
worst first half in WNBA history Saturday, the game was over,
right?
|  | | Houston's Tina Thompson, center, keeps this rebound away from Minnesota's Svetlana Abrosimova, background, and Lynn Pride, right.
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Not quite.
Tina Thompson had 17 points and 10 rebounds and the Houston
Comets withstood a stirring Minnesota rally for a 59-52 victory
Saturday.
"I felt like there was a lid on the basket in the first half,"
said Erin Buescher, who scored a career-high 16 points.
The lid opened for just two of Minnesota's 29 first-half shots,
a miserable 6.9 shooting percentage from the field. During one
stretch they did not score a point for nearly 14 minutes and missed
18 consecutive field-goal attempts.
The Lynx trailed 22-11 at the half.
"I have probably not been associated or watched a first-half
like that," Minnesota coach Brian Agler said. "I can't remember
one."
Minnesota's Katie Smith, the WNBA's leading scorer, was 0-for-9
from the field in the half and finished shooting just 5-for-20 for
18 points.
"Katie Smith won't be 5-for-20 again in her life," Houston
coach Van Chancellor said.
Janeth Arcain scored 15 points for the Comets (10-2), who have
beaten Minnesota in all eight games the teams have ever played -- holding the Lynx (5-6) below 40 percent shooting every game.
They nearly let this one slip away.
Minnesota opened the second half with a 24-15 run and closed to two points with 10 minutes left. Shanele Stires' 3-pointer
with 5:58 remaining put the Lynx up 46-45.
But the Comets made seven of eight free throws down the stretch and
closed the game with a 14-6 run.
"They never quit," Thompson said. "We always expect a good
game out of Minnesota. I think all our games have come down to the
last couple minutes against them."
The 33 combined first-half points tied a WNBA record.
Minnesota's two first-half field goals and 6.9 percent shooting
both marked franchise lows. The record for fewest points in a half
was set by Seattle, which scored nine in the second half of a 58-36
defeat against Cleveland on June 14. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Houston team page
Minnesota team page
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