By Kyle Ratke

What have you done for me lately?

After more than a month of no WNBA play due to the 2012 London Games, the Minnesota Lynx (19-4, 1st in the West) haven’t slowed down a bit. In the four games since August 17, the Lynx are 4-0, beating their opponents by an average of 19 points.

 The closest game came on Saturday against the Atlanta Dream. Minnesota won that game 84-74.

During that same stretch, Seimone Augustus has failed to score 20 points just once and is averaging 19.8 points per game.

The San Antonio Silver Stars (17-6, 3rd in the West) are 4-1 since August 17. The lone loss to the Los Angeles Sparks last Thursday.

 On Saturday, the Silver Stars crushed the Tulsa Shock 91-71. Jia Perkins led San Antonio with 21 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Perkins is averaging 11.7 points per game this season, and in the last five contests, she has eclipsed that mark twice. On August 17, also against the Shock, Perkins scored 17 points in 22 minutes.

Trying to take the series lead

During the first contest between the Silver Stars and Lynx on June 3, the Lynx snuck out an 83-79 victory. Four Lynx scored in double figures (Maya Moore 17, Rebekkah Brunson 17, Lindsay Whalen 15 and Augustus 13). Danielle Adams led the Silver Stars with 21 points.

The second game between the two teams resulted in the Lynx suffering their second loss of the season, as Minnesota fell 84-93 on the road against San Antonio.

Becky Hammon scored 23 points and Sophia Young notched a double-double, scoring 22 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Silver Stars.

Monica Wright led the Lynx with 18 points off the bench.

Minnesota has 11 games remaining during the regular season and three of them are against San Antonio.

Players to watch for in tonight’s game:

Considered to be the two best point guards in the WNBA, Whalen and Hammon are set to go head-to-head for the third time this season.

Whalen and Hammon are No. 1 and No. 2 in assists per game with 5.7 and 5.5, respectively. Hammon has the upper hand when it comes to scoring, putting up 16 points per game, compared to Whalen’s 11.

The difference for San Antonio could very well depend on how Hammon plays. In the June 3 loss, Hammon shot just 2-for-7 and scored seven points.  In the July 1 win, Hammon scored 23 points and had a team-high eight assists.

Whalen, however, has been more consistent against the Silver Stars. In the first meeting, the former Gopher nearly put up a triple-double, scoring 15 points with seven assists and eight rebounds. In the second meeting, Whalen scored 15 points, but had just two assists.

If Hammon plays like she did on July 1, the Silver Stars have a very good chance of winning. It’s likely Whalen will score in the double-digits, but her teammates will need to hit some more shots if the Lynx want to take a 2-1 season series lead tonight against the Silver Stars.