On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Chelsea Leite and Minnesota Lynx reporter Terry Horstman talk about league-leading Lynx, and what August may hold for them as the WNBA playoffs approach.
First, they discussed Minnesota’s upcoming game against the Las Vegas Aces and what the energy was like during shoot around at Target Center today, especially regarding recent injuries on the Lynx roster:
“I talked to Natisha Hiedeman because I wanted to get a clear update on the ankle injury she sustained on Tuesday night yesterday’s practice,” Horstman explained. “[head coach Cheryl Reeve] … said she was a full participant and looked great. And then the ensuing injury report that came out didn’t have to [Hiedeman’s] name on it. It just had Karlie Samuelson, which we know is out for the year. And yeah, [Hiedeman] was in good spirits today. She mentioned being a quick healer. And shout out to the Lynx training staff and [Director of Player Performance] Chuck Barta and [Assistant Athletic Trainer] Brandi BlueArm, who do a great job.”
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“I chatted with [Hiedeman] a little bit about a game last year, kind of her earlier in the season, but it was her first sort of big, high scoring game with the Lynx. Last year, she twisted her ankle before playing the Dallas Wings and then scored like 17 points in 17 minutes, basically, against the Wings in a game where the Lynx starters didn’t have the usual offensive firepower. So it was a well-timed offensive explosion for her last year. And you heard it here: when T hurts her ankle, she scores a ton of points. So … look for the over under on Natisha Hiedeman points tonight.”
Then, with the recent news that the New York Liberty had picked up WNBA veteran Emma Meesseman to help finish out their season, Horstman and Leite talk about the potential for the Lynx to make roster moves ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.
“I definitely think they’re looking to make moves somewhere, especially in the post,” Horstman said. “They were very interested in Emma Meesseman as well. … I’m fairly certain Emma was at a Lynx game earlier this season, she’s played with Kayla McBride and Napheesa Collier with [Fenerbahçe S.K.] in Turkey. She played for [associate head coach Eric Thibault], so I think the Lynx had a compelling pitch to make. And while Reeve was quick to note that [Meesseman] hasn’t signed on the dotted line with New York yet, there’s still a matter of immigration things to be solved, but it did sound like she turned the page, like we’re no longer in the Emma Meesseman sweepstakes, the Liberty will eventually win the battle for that signature. So I do think they are going to try and make a move.”
“They made the decision to release Alissa Pili on the mid-year deadline last weekend, about a week and a half ago at this point, which did give them not only roster spot flexibility, but also cap space flexibility. So you know, if you try and get too crazy with it, if you go like hunting for more star power, you would have to maybe include another player or a contract to make the money work, but I don’t think they’re going to stand pat. And yeah, we’ll see, we got that deadline coming up August 7. So yeah, these games, especially tonight, and with Atlanta on Sunday, they’ve played the dream already in Atlanta, but [these are] some teams with a lot of size that will test the Lynx, as … they’re not the biggest team in the world. So we’ll see if these [upcoming] games are a kind of enlightenment towards a trade possibility,” Horstman continued.
Tune in to hear more about tonight’s slate of WNBA games and where the Lynx stand as the regular season continues. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!