Nine observations from Lynx exhibition
The Lynx lost to Indiana 68-51 on Saturday in an exhibition game at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. Here are the story lines behind the score:
1. Q can play: Quanitra Hollingsworth, a 6-5 rookie center from Virginia Commonwealth, looked like she belongs in the WNBA. She made four of seven shots from the field, including 10- and 11-foot jumpers and an 8-foot turnaround.
She finished with a team-high 14 points by also making six of seven free throws.
Q only had two rebounds and one block. But those numbers, especially her rebound total, will probably go up. She had 55 double-doubles in college.
She didn't start this game but played almost 20 minutes.
"I really like the Hollingsworth kid," Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. "She has got tremendous upside. Nice touch."
Lynx coach Don Zierden said Q was one of the team's bright spots, especially because she did not practice the first week of training camp because of a leg injury.
"This is really the first time we got to see her live," Zierden said. "There are a lot of positives we will take out of her game."
2. Emmy remains a longshot: One of the biggest cheers of the game came when Emily Fox, the former Gophers guard, made a three-pointer with just under two minutes left.
Fox was 1-for-3 in almost 17 minutes. She had one rebound, two assists and two turnovers.
"It was important for us, with just one exhibition game, to give the players on the bubble a lot of minutes," Lynx coach Don Zierden said.
Fox looked uncomfortable at times -- as did all the Lynx guards, really. The Fever's quick hands and feet were a big reason the Lynx committed 31 turnovers. The Fever scored 33 points off them.
Two point guards are probably ahead of Fox in the depth chart: veteran Kelly Miller, who started the game, and rookie Renee Montgomery.
3. Scoring droughts doom Lynx: Minnesota led 31-27 at halftime, but the Lynx went the first 6 minutes, 19 seconds of the second half without a point. By then the Fever was ahead 40-31.
Seemed a lot like some of the Gophers' game this season, when they went long stretches with no points.
Sure enough, there was a present Gopher at the game, too. Junior center Ashley Ellis-Milan was there, watching Fox and maybe comparing herself to the posts in this game.
"For a while there, I wasn't sure we were going to score in the entire third quarter," Zierden said. "The goal is to the win the exhibition game, but the purpose is to make sure that everybody gets a chance to play.
"We had some combinations out there that we probably won't have during the regular season."
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Lynx went almost four minutes without a point while Indiana scored 10 points to build a 59-38 lead.
4. Scoreless Augustus still a good sign: Seimone Augustus, the franchise player on the Lynx, started the game at forward and played 7:12 but didn't score a point.
Of course, she didn't a take shot either. Her only stat in the official scorer's report was under turnovers. She had two.
But the mere fact she played was good news for the Lynx. She had been bothered by a hamstring pull the first week of practice.
"It [her limited minutes] was a little bit of precautionary," Zierden said, "but it was a lot of, you know, we know what she can do. We know what Anna [DeForge] can do. But we really had to give Roneeka Hodges and Kamesha [Hairston] and Rashanda [McCants] a chance.
"And I am glad we did. You saw, they need some experience out there on that floor."
DeForge, a veteran guard, started the game but only played slightly under five minutes. She was 0-for-2 from the field.
Teammate Candice Wiggins, who also has a hamstring pull, did not play or warm up although she was in her warmup attire.
5. Team highs: These were well spread out. Roneeka Hodges had four blocks, Renee Montgomery had three assists, and LaToya Pringle had six rebounds.
6. Why only one exhibition? Simple. There was a schedule glitch. Zierden said the Lynx had a second exhibition set with the Los Angeles Sparks in Grand Forks, N.D., like last season, but there was a problem getting the arena.
The Sparks asked the Lynx to play in L.A. "I really didn't think we have the time to go out to L.A. and play an exhibition game," Zierden said. "We will do a lot more playing against our guys' practice squad than we normally do."
7. Biggest Lynx problem? Maybe roles.
"They didn't have [Candice] Wiggins out there at all and they didn't have [Seimone] Augustus the whole second half," Dunn said. "I think they are going to be much improved.
"Renee Montgomery is really going to help them. And I like Kelly Miller. I like Montgomery and Miller together."
What about Montgomery's seven turnovers, Coach?
"One of the things we do is, we play defense and we pressure," Dunn said. "If you are going to be defended that way, find out what it is like early. And learn from it. Don't let if be the first game of the season.
"The challenge for [the Lynx] is their first five and then who are their four, five off the bench because they are much deeper.
"With more talent, who gets what minutes? What combinations [do] you have?"
8. Charde Houston shows drive. Houston, the second year forward from Connecticut, looked confident as she kept slashing to the basket in her 16:34 on the court.
She was 4-for-8 from the field and had 10 points and two assists. Four turnovers, though.
"Charde Houston had a great year last year," Dunn said. "Could have been rookie of the year. Charde could have been."
9. Montgomery, McCants struggle. Renee Montgomery, a rookie point guard, rolled two sevens. She had seven points, which were offset by seven turnovers.
Rashanda McCants, a rookie forward, played 22:39 but was scoreless. She was 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 at the free throw line.
McCants had three steals but only two rebounds, and she committed four fouls.
Said Zierden, "[Assistant coach] Jen Gillom came to me during introductions and said, 'We got some rookies who have some glass eyes right now. They are just wide-eyed. I don't know if they are going to be ready to play.'
"I think you saw that. At least I hope you saw that's what it was with Renee and even Rashanda. They both had subpar afternoons from what we expect from them. "We knew we would have a lot of turnovers because we really have not worked much on offense."
The season opener is creeping up. The Lynx play Chicago at Target Center on June 6.
