Moore Scores 30 As Lynx Rout Storm

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maya Moore scored 25 of her 30 points in the first half to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 97-74 victory over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night.

Seimone Augustus had 16 points for Minnesota (22-7), while rookie Rachel Jarry had a career-high 14. Lindsay Whalen added 12 points and Monica Wright had 10. Moore shot 12 for 15 from the field to reach 30 points for the second time in her career. She had 35 against Indiana last Saturday.

Tina Thompson tied a season high with five 3-pointers en route to a team-high 18 points as the Storm (15-15) lost for just the second time in seven games. Temeka Johnson had 16 points and Tanisha Wright added 11.

Despite the defeat, Seattle clinched a Western Conference playoff berth with San Antonio's loss to Los Angeles.

Seattle knew it was in for a long night when it's season-best first quarter still left the Storm trailing 31-26.

Minnesota shot 70 percent from the floor in the first 10 minutes -- getting 15 points from Moore -- then held Seattle to 16 points in each of the final three quarters. The Lynx built a 20-point cushion late in the third quarter and led by as many as 27.

Minnesota set a season high with 41 field goals made, the most allowed by the Storm this season.

The Lynx also hit 6 of 10 3-point attempts, making it 52 of 115 (45.2 percent) in its last 10 games.

Seattle has now lost nine straight games in Minneapolis -- including the postseason -- since July 17, 2010. The Lynx beat the Storm by 18 in the previous meeting on August 4.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.