Seimone Augustus scores 25 to lift Lynx over Fever 83-79 in OT

Augustus scores 25 to lift Lynx over Fever 83-79

INDIANAPOLIS — Seimone Augustus scored 25 points to help the Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever 83-79 in overtime on Sunday.

Charde Houston and Lindsay Whalen added 16 points each for the Lynx, who barely missed the playoffs after tying for fourth place in the West.

“I’m happy with the win,” Lindsay Whalen said. “I’m disappointed about not being in the playoffs. So it was bittersweet.”

Tamika Catchings had 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 16 points for Indiana, which could have earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but ended up in third place after Washington and New York won earlier in the day.

“It didn’t mean as much once all the other stuff played out,” Fever forward Ebony Hoffman said. “We still knew we needed this game for momentum.”

Indiana will play New York in the first round starting Thursday. The Fever were alone in third place earlier this week, but finished the season on a three-game losing streak.

“The frustrating thing is not tonight, it’s tonight, the San Antonio game, the New York game,” Fever forward Tamika Catchings said. “We had our destiny in our hands, and unfortunately, we didn’t take care of business, and now we’re No. 3.”

Minnesota overcame a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime after Monica Wright scored on a putback with 18.5 seconds left to tie the game at 74.