We wrote Thursday about how Maya Moore was adjusting to life in the NBA. By all accounts, the first-overall pick was settling in nicely with the Minnesota Lynx. Compared to other rookies, she was among league leaders in several categories, and even leads all forwards in the Western Conference in All-Star voting.
Still, the WNBA has yet to see the Maya Huskies fans came to know during her four years in Storrs. Well, that changed over the weekend. On Saturday, Moore, facing three of her former UConn teammates when the Lynx played the Connecticut Sun, scored a career-high 26 points, including six three-pointers (which tied a league high this season).
Moore, who was averaging 13.2 points coming into the match-up, appeared to be motivated by the prospect of facing Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Kalana Greene for the first time outside a Huskies practice.
"I think it forced me to focus even more because I know how competitive and how good they can be," Moore said, according to the Hartford Courant. "This was a game I just wanted to make sure I was mentally prepared. I felt good in warm-ups and practice leading up to the game, so I'm just happy with the results."
Of the 90-67 outcome, Suns guard Montgomery said "It was awful." And Sun coach Mike Thibault was frank in his post-game assessment. "They kicked our butt, especially in the third quarter." The Lynx outscored the Sun 23-6 in the penultimate period.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that "...Charles and Montgomery came in averaging 19.8 and 18 points. Charles finished with six points and eight rebounds, Montgomery with a team-high 14 points."
And now the Lynx, which haven't finished higher than fifth in the Western Conference since 2004, are in a first-place tie with San Antonio.
