Turns out Sarah Augustus and Cheryl Reeve are on the same page.
Reeve, of course, is the Lynx coach. Sarah is Seimone Augustus' grandma. Before Tuesday's opening game of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals with Washington at Williams Arena, Augustus got a call from her grandma. After Tuesday's one-sided victory over the Mystics, Augustus wasn't able to repeat exactly what her grandma had said – apparently there were some choice words – but the message was: Passing is fine, shooting is better.
Shoot more.
Augustus had been hearing it in the week the Lynx spent preparing for the playoffs. "I heard it all week,'' Augustus said. "it completed my week to have my grandma call and say, 'Shoot the ball.' I was like, 'OK, Granny.' ''
Augustus hit 11 of 17 shots for a season-high 24 points, the most she had scored in a playoff game since 2012. Reeve always says when Seimone plays well, the Lynx win. They sure did Tuesday.
Here are some other observations from the game:
--In the games immediately following Whalen being lost to a broken hand, the Lynx stumbled a bit. And Renee Montgomery didn't play particularly well. And it bothered her. A lot.
The good news is she finished the regular season strong and she continued that good play Tuesday, coming off the bench to made four of five three-pointers and score 18 points.
--The roar the announced crowd of 7,834 made when Whalen was introduced Tuesday was remarkable. Reeve said she got emotional listening to it.
--Whalen and Montgomery combined to play some very good defense on Kristi Toliver, who scored just three points on 1-for-7 shooting. Toliver came into the game on a roll, having scored 32 points while making a WNBA playoff-record nine three-pointers in Washington's upset victory in New York Tuesday.
--Franchise records set tonight: Three-pointers made (12), three-point shooting (70.6). Previous records were nine vs. L.A.. in 2011 and 57.1 percent vs. Phoenix in 2011, respectively.
