Moore, Lynx even WNBA Finals at 1-1 with win over Sparks

Reporting from MINNEAPOLIS —  Maya Moore had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Minnesota Lynx even the WNBA Finals at one game apiece with a 79-60 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and 15 boards and Minnesota held Los Angeles to 32.9 percent shooting to bounce back from a last-second loss in Game 1. Seimone Augustus scored 14 points and Minnesota dominated on the glass, 46-32, to pull away.

Nneka Ogwumike had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sparks, who head back home for the next two games in the best-of-five series. Candace Parker was quiet with six points on 3-for-12 shooting.

The Lynx are trying to become the first back-to-back champions in the league since the Sparks repeated in 2002. A win in this series would also give Minnesota its fourth championship, which would tie the Lynx with the Houston Comets for most in league history.

Last year the Lynx lost Game 1 at Target Center to the Indiana Fever, but rebounded to win that series in five games. But they know they face an even more capable challenger this year with the star-studded Sparks.

Neither team led by more than five points during an air-tight Game 1 that Los Angeles won at the buzzer on a jumper from Alana Beard. The first 16 minutes of Game 2 were just as competitive, but Moore and the Lynx seized control in the final four minutes of the second quarter.

After going scoreless in the first half of Game 1, Moore got rolling during a 17-3 blitz to close the period. She hit two 3-pointers and a layup, then picked Parker’s pocket and heaved a three-quarter length outlet to a streaking Lindsay Whalen for a three-point play and a 37-25 lead.

Moore had 12 points in the first half and the Lynx took much better care of the ball after coughing it up 11 times in the first half of Game 1.

The Sparks made things interesting with a 14-0 run in the third quarter that made the score 44-41, but Augustus and Moore took over in the fourth to turn back the charge.

Ogwumike, the league MVP, scored just two points in the final period and the Sparks were 3 for 20 on 3-pointers for the game.