After the deflating loss to the Mercury on Wednesday, the Lynx used Thursday's practice to play shooting games and boost their spirits. It seemed to work as they ended their 10 game skid with a 85-76 win over the Sparks.

Svetlana Abrosimova scored a season high 23 points and set the tone early for Minnesota. "We've been struggling for many games, so every game we come out; this is the day we're going to get it," Abrosimova said. “We know that when you have a star player like Seimone Augustus you need people who can compliment her, people who can pick up the slack when she comes out of the game. I thought that Svetlana has stepped up and done a good job for us,” Coach Z said.

Seimone Augustus also scored 23 and the Lynx dominated the points in the paint and rebounding.

The Lynx had Lindsey Harding back on the bench for the first time since her surgery last week to repair her torn ACL. A crew from NBA-TV seemed to be filming a segment on her doing the game, so look for that in a future episode of WNBA Action.

It was also the annual visit of WNBA President Donna Orender. She talked to a group of Lynx season ticket holders before the game. Many of the questions from the crowd focused on officiating as fans were still upset over last Friday's Mystics game. But Orender also talked about the successful All-Star game, expansion, the new television contract and merchandising.