Storm's backcourt play too much for Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS — After 40 minutes of basketball, Minnesota discovered its Lynx are still kittens.

"They kind of remind me of how we were in 2003 in Detroit," said Storm forward Swin Cash, who won a WNBA championship with the Shock that season. "From the standpoint that we were very young, kind of naive a little bit. We thought we could beat everyone. We just came in fearless, and they [Minnesota] go up against every team fearless. It doesn't matter who you are."

On Friday, Seattle quickly introduced itself.

Shedding its mistake-filled performance (20 turnovers, 15 offensive rebounds allowed) from a loss at Indiana on Tuesday, the Storm executed its offense effectively and disrupted the Lynx on defense to collect an 88-71 win at the Target Center.

Forward Lauren Jackson led Seattle with game highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

The Lynx (3-1) entered the matchup confident, with wins already over Los Angeles, Indiana and Chicago. But none of those teams has the guard play of Seattle.

Storm point guard Sue Bird scored 11 of her 15 points after halftime, and recorded a game-high nine assists.

"She ran the show," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "Yes, she had seven turnovers, but her contributions go beyond just assists and points."

It appeared Minnesota might grab the momentum after pulling within 39-30 with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter. But Storm guard Shannon Johnson hit a jumper and Cash made one of two free throws to close the half with Seattle ahead 42-30.

"I let them have it," Lynx coach Jennifer Gillom said of her halftime speech. "I thought we didn't have a great practice the day before, and it carried over to the game. I stayed positive, but I let them know we weren't doing what we needed to do."

Cash was the main defensive aggressor on Minnesota star Seimone Augustus, who entered the game averaging 24.0 points. Augustus was 1 of 6 from the field in the first half for four points, and finished with 15.

"Swin played awesome defense on Seimone," said Jackson, whose team held the Lynx to 26.7 percent shooting from three-point range (4 of 15). "Everybody actually did because the last game was a bit of a wake-up call for us. We were a step behind, so [Friday], the goal was to come out and not be slow."

Minnesota, which led the league in scoring (95.0) after three games, finally clicked on offense starting the fourth quarter, and an old-fashioned three-point play by guard Candice Wiggins pulled the Lynx within 68-60 with 9:11 left.

But Tanisha Wright scored five points in an 11-4 run to secure the win for the Storm (3-1), which simply toyed with the Lynx the rest of the way.

Seattle plays at Chicago on Sunday to end its three-game road trip.

"We didn't want the Indiana game to be the norm," said Bird, whose team outrebounded an opponent for the first time this season (29-26). "We want it to be, 'Oh, it's just one of those games.' In order to make that true, we had to bounce back."

Notes

• Agler altered his lineup for the first time in three games, starting Cash in place of Johnson. Agler said Cash, who is coming off offseason back surgery, would gradually get more minutes, and he eventually will work her into the starting five, although he could return to a three-guard lineup against teams who pressure ballhandlers.

• Storm center Janell Burse, who has spoken of difficulty getting adjusted to Agler's system, had her best showing of the season against Minnesota. Burse had eight first-half points on 4-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and a block in less than 10 minutes of play.

• Storm center Suzy Batkovic-Brown started the second quarter, appearing in her first WNBA game since 2005. She played about 2 ½ minutes, taking no shots. Agler wants to place her higher in the post rotation.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com