MINNEAPOLIS -- With a lot of different faces in their locker room this season, the Minnesota Lynx are expecting different results.
On Tuesday, they got off to a good start.
Katie Smith scored 18 points and Jordan Adams added 14 as
Minnesota defeated the Detroit Shock 86-72 in the first WNBA
preseason game for both teams.
"It feels good,'' Smith said. "I like what the coaches have
done and the new players we have to work with.
"It's a great group, and I'm excited about what can happen.''
Minnesota, a fifth-year franchise that has yet to make the
playoffs, hired coach Suzie McConnell Serio in the offseason. The
Lynx also signed four-time Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards to
play point guard and picked up veteran forward Sheri Sam in the
league's dispersal draft.
"I have high expectations for this season,'' said McConnell
Serio, who spent the last 13 seasons as head girls' basketball
coach at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh. "These
players are battling hard in practice and competing.''
Edwards, 38, had eight assists in her WNBA debut and Tamika
Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota.
"Teresa Edwards has come in and taken control of this team
from the beginning,'' said McConnell Serio.
Swin Cash and Deanna Nolan each had 14 points for Detroit, which
shot just 26.9 percent from the field. The Shock were without both
Kedra Holland-Corn and Ruth Riley.
"What I wanted to accomplish was to see what we have with a lot
of new faces,'' said second-year coach Bill Laimbeer. "There are a
lot of things we have to look at early.''
Leading 37-25, the Lynx opened the second half with a 16-6 run
to take a 53-31 lead before the 15-minute mark. Minnesota led by as
many as 23 points in the second half, and Detroit did not get
closer than 10.
Detroit guard Allison Curtin left the game in the second half
with a left-knee sprain, according to Laimbeer.
The announced attendance at Target Center was 7,291.
Putbacks
The Lynx signed Sam on Monday to bring their training camp roster to 16. Three players haven't reported because they're
finishing commitments overseas. ... Retired F Shanele Stires will join the coaching staff at Ohio University in Oxford. The Bobcats' head coach is Lynn Bria. Stires, who played sparingly in three years with the Lynx, also spent the past three offseasons working for the team's community relations department.