Seattle edges Lynx on late basket; Rebekkah Brunson hurt

SEATTLE – Crystal Langhorne's put-back layup with 11.1 seconds left gave Seattle a 62-61 victory over the Lynx on Wednesday night at KeyArena.

The loss was their second in a row — the first time this season the Lynx have lost back-to-back games — and third in four games. All those games have been without point guard Lindsay Whalen, sidelined because of a broken bone in her left hand.

The Lynx lost starting forward Rebekkah Brunson before halftime. She appeared to suffer a left ankle injury and didn't return. Brunson, in just under 10½ minutes, had three points and three rebounds.

"I don't know," coach Cheryl Reeve said when asked how the Lynx can get out of their slump. "We'll have to search for answers."

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Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, who both had double-doubles for the Lynx, each missed a shot in the closing seconds.

"[I] didn't execute by hitting the shot," said Moore, referring to her baseline jumper. "Of course, I want it back to try and get that shot to go in. Ultimately, the game wasn't won or lost on that possession for us, but we gave ourselves a chance to win."

Moore had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Fowles 13 points and 13 rebounds. The Lynx (21-5) shot only 33.3 percent from the field, but outrebounded the Storm 40-32 to stay close.

Langhorne finished with 14 points. Jewell Lloyd scored 16 points for Seattle, and Breanna Stewart had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lynx offense sputtered in both the second and fourth quarters when Minnesota scored only 11 and 10 points, respectively. Renee Montgomery, starting in Whalen's place, had six points and four assists but, as a team, the Lynx had only 11 assists total.

The Lynx also lost starting forward Rebekkah Brunson before halftime. She appeared to suffer a left ankle injury and didn't return. Brunson, in just under 10½ minutes, had three points and three rebounds.

"We need to … get over the humps a little better so we can finish some of these games," Moore said.

The Lynx had won 11 of their past 12 games against Seattle, including two this season by an average of 17 points.

The 61 points Minnesota scored was a season-low, three points fewer than they had in a 70-64 home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks last Friday.

The Storm (12-16) is now 2-0 since firing coach Jenny Boucek last week and naming assistant Gary Kloppenburg the interim head coach.

"It wasn't always pretty, but I'm really happy we were able to come out with that win," Kloppenburg said.

"[On] that last play, Langhorne did a great job of switching out on Maya, made her take a tough shot. Luckily, [Moore] didn't get the put back that time."