Simone Augustus scores 30 to lead Lynx over Sparks

MINNEAPOLIS — Seimone Augustus scored 30 points to help the Minnesota Lynx beat the Sparks, 87-76, on Wednesday night.

Candice Wiggins scored 17 points for Minnesota (3-0).

“To beat L.A., with that team that they have, that’s a great sign for us,” said Lynx Coach Jennifer Gillom, who took over when Don Zierden resigned just days before the season began. “We can beat any team on any given night, so that was a huge steppingstone for us.”

Former Lynx player Betty Lennox led the Sparks (1-2) with 25 points.

“As a team, as a whole, we didn’t play well, so it doesn’t really matter how I played individually,” said Lennox, the WNBA’s rookie of the year with Minnesota in 2000. “We’re just not fulfilling our potential right now, but we know it’s early.”

The Sparks had a five-point lead late in the third quarter, but Minnesota used a 16-3 run to take a 66-58 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Sparks center Lisa Leslie fouled out with less than a minute to play in the third. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

“We started loosening up our defense and let some people get some shots that they weren’t getting in the first half,” Sparks Coach Michael Cooper said. “For us it’s like panic mode right now because it’s early in the season and we’re supposed to be better than this. We just have to rectify it.”