MINNEAPOLIS-Maya Moore scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx pulled even in the WNBA Finals with a 79-60 win against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday in Game 2.
Game 3 of the best-of-five series is Friday in Los Angeles at the Galen Center.
Sylvia Fowles scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which is searching for its fourth title in six years and second in a row. Lynx guard Seimone Augustus scored 14 points, including 12 in the second half.
Sparks guard Alana Beard scored 13 points in Game 2 after hitting a buzzer-beating game-winner in Game 1. Nneka Ogwumike had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but Sparks star Candace Parker was limited to six points on 3-of-12 shooting.
A close series continued early. Neither team held more than a five-point lead in Los Angeles' Game 1 win, and neither team was on top by more than four points in the first quarter Tuesday. A six-point Minnesota lead was quickly nullified, and the score was tied 22-all before Moore keyed a 17-3 lead as the Lynx took control.
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Moore, who was held scoreless in the first half in Game 1, hit a 3-pointer to break the tie. She had eight points during Minnesota's run, including a pass nearly the length of the court to a streaking Lindsay Whalen for a layup.
Moore turned toward the Lynx bench and screamed as the Lynx finished the first half on a 12-1 run to lead 39-25.
Minnesota would lead by as many as 17, but Los Angeles closed within three points in the third with a 14-0 run. The Lynx again took control with Augustus leading the way. Augustus scored just two points in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but she had seven in the third.
Beard only had one point in the first half, but she sparked Los Angeles with nine in the third quarter before running into trouble with five fouls. Ogwumike also had five fouls.
Fowles helped limit Parker inside. Fowles twice blocked Parker on layup chances, including once during Minnesota's first-half run.
The Sparks shot just 32.9 percent from the field (23 of 70). The Lynx made 45.2 percent of their field-goal attempts (33 of 73).
NOTES: Four of the nine previous playoff games between Minnesota and Los Angeles were decided by two points or one. Sunday was the first time the Sparks had won such a game in the meetings. ... The Lynx beat Los Angeles in Minnesota in all four previous playoff meetings. ... Lynx F Maya Moore is the highest scorer in WNBA Finals history. She has 289 points in Finals play after scoring 21 in Game 2. ... The Sparks led the league by shooting 48.7 percent from this year, while Minnesota was third at 47.1 percent. ... Game 1 on Sunday was the most-watched Game 1 ever on ABC, with an average of 597,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. It was the most-watched WNBA Finals Game 1 across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 since 1998, with viewership peaking at 693,000.
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