CHARLOTTE STING 81, MINNESOTA LYNX 68

The Sting knew they had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and their tenacity was evident in an 81-68 win over the Lynx Thursday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

After losing a close game at home to Minnesota on Tuesday, the Sting were determined to make up for their performance against the last-place team in the Western Conference. The win is Charlotte’s fifth in seven games since the All-Star break and improves their record to 8-18.

Tangela Smith led the Sting with 21 points, the fourth time this season she has scored more than 20 points in a game. Sheri Sam broke out of a slump to score 17 points, grab seven rebounds and dish out six assists. Kelly Mazzante continued to provide a spark off the bench, contributing 10 points, and making this the third straight game she has scored in double figures.

Sam exploded in the third period, scoring 11 of her 17 points. Thanks to a 10-3 Sting run midway through the quarter, Charlotte took a 51-41 lead, their largest of the game to that point. Augustus scored six points to keep Minnesota within striking distance, but the Lynx only scored 13 points as a team during the period. Nine more Lynx turnovers kept the Sting ahead by six, 58-52, heading into the final stanza.

The Sting were ahead for all of the fourth quarter until an Augustus lay-up with 4:10 remaining tied the game at 64. But Charlotte responded, going on a 5-0 run to put them ahead 69-64, and they never looked back. They ended the game on a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach, and Smith scored eight of her points in the final four minutes.

The Sting struck first, taking a 2-0 lead on a Smith jump shot. They took a six-point lead midway through the first quarter on a Sam free throw with 4:41 remaining in the period. It not only put the Sting ahead 15-9, but it marked the 3000th point of Sam’s WNBA career. She is the 13th woman in history to achieve this feat, joining Sting teammate Smith, who scored her 3,000th point in May.

Smith scored seven points in the opening stanza, only one less than her scoring total for the last game, and Minnesota rookie Seimone Augustus, the first overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, scored eight points to pace the Lynx. The Sting took a three-point lead, 22-19, heading into the second quarter.

Charlotte again took a six-point lead, 33-27, with 6:03 remaining in the first half to match their largest lead of the game. However, Minnesota fought back to tie the game at 33 on a Tamika Williams lay-up with 2:58 remaining, and they would eventually extend their lead to five with 1:12 left in the half. A Tammy Sutton-Brown lay-up with 51 seconds remaining cut the Lynx lead to three, and Charlotte entered halftime down 39-36.

In the first half, the Lynx held the Sting to .341 percent shooting, but the Sting were able to stay in the game by forcing nine Minnesota turnovers and committing only four themselves. For the Lynx, Augustus and Vanessa Hayden each finished the half with 10 points. Smith led the Sting with eight points in the first half, and Mazzante and LaToya Bond added five apiece.

Augustus finished the game with 19 points, and she also had seven rebounds. Vanessa Hayden, who is averaging 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds off the bench, exploded against the Sting, scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Minnesota was forced into 24 turnovers, eight more than their season average, while Charlotte only committed 12.

The game also marked a homecoming for Janel McCarville, who attended college at the University of Minnesota. The first overall draft pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft, McCarville had two points, four rebounds and a block in 13 minutes of game action.

Charlotte will next play New York on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.

HEAD COACH MUGGSY BOGUES SAYS... (On the win) The most important thing in the game was the effort, we came out and were really in tune tonight. We didn't feel like we played our best basketball at our place. They came out and played extremely hard and played well and got the victory. We just wanted to come here and just play hard and execute and give ourselves an opportunity to win a ballgame, and we did. (On his team doing good work on the boards) (Offensive rebounds) have been an Achilles' heel as of late, giving up second opportunities. But tonight -- actually the last week-and-a-half or two weeks -- we've been playing pretty well. We have been trying to emphasize the turnovers as well as the offensive rebounds, and tonight we came out and limited them to one opportunity and took care of the basketball... That was a key factor for us. INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM TANGELA SMITH (On the win) There were a lot of fouls being called back and forth. I think it was a very physical game... We just kept fighting to the end and we continued to play aggressive and we stuck together as a team when they made their run. We just kept sticking together. (On the difference in her game from Tuesday to Thursday's game against Minnesota) I just took my time tonight. Last game I was rushing and trying to shoot too fast. I just calmed down and focused on my shots and took my time... Last game, coach was very mad at us because they outrebounded us so bad, so we practiced by doing a lot of rebounding drills and that was our main focus tonight, trying to outrebound them. SHERI SAM (On the game) This game keeps us in the hunt. We've got eight games left, so we have just got to keep fighting. It would be awesome to make the playoffs. We just have to keep fighting along with getting some help.The way we approached the game was different. Our intensity, ball movement, and the little things that you do to win the game, we did tonight. We started slow and were never able to get going, so now we have to be consistent and carry on until Saturday. HELEN DARLING (On staying in the playoff race) It's definitely good to come here and get the win, not so much for me but for the team. Our goal right now is to try and catch Washington and make the playoffs... We were very disappointed at home not to get that win, and even against Phoenix, because those two games would have put us three games away from Washington instead of the five we are behind after tonight... It's not so much revenge, it's instead a game we should've won but we didn't.

July 27, 2006 Team 1 2 3 4 TOT CHA 22 14 22 23 81 MIN 19 20 13 16 68 STAR OF THE GAME SHERI SAM 17 points 7 rebounds 6 assists SUB OF THE GAME KELLY MAZZANTE 10 points 4-7 FGs 2-5 3PT FGs STAT OF THE GAME TURNOVERS Charlotte - 12 Minnesota - 23 HUSTLE BOARD Team REB STL BLK TOT CHA 38 14 5 57 MIN 31 4 8 43