Augustus helps Lynx rally past Sky in OT

Pink was the color of the day at Allstate Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Decked out in pink uniforms, pink headbands, pink socks and even pink sneakers, Chicago Sky players were promoting Breast Health Awareness Week in style.

Even some of the 4,992 in the stands dressed in pink to show their support.

But in the end, the only color the Sky could see was red as another victory fell through the cracks.

Ahead by 16 points on the Minnesota Lynx at halftime, the Sky saw its lead steadily diminish in the second half, to the point that overtime became necessary.

In the extra session, Seimone Augustus hit a 3-pointer with 26.9 seconds left that broke up a tie and gave Minnesota a lead it would not relinquish, as the Lynx escaped with an 87-82 victory.

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Sky, which is playing itself right out of a playoff spot. At 12-17, the Sky sits in last place in the Eastern Conference and is 5 games out of the fourth and final playoff spot with five games left.

Minnesota, which has won three games in a row - including an upset of the WNBA's best team, Seattle Storm - improved to 10-16.

"I don't know what it is, why we can't finish," said Sky guard Jia Perkins, acknowledging that losing late leads has been a chronic problem all season. "It's the end of the season. We should have pretty much everything clicking right now.

"Everybody is frustrated. We know we're a better team than this. To have all this talent and we're not going anywhere with it."

Perkins did her part, scoring a team-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers. The Sky also got 14 points from Sylvia Fowles, 13 from Dominique Canty and 10 points from Tamera Young.

"We just can't get it right," Canty said. "We're out of sync, we're missing defensive assignments. It's everything and it's frustrating because we're trying to fight for the playoffs and we basically gave the game away."

Turnovers doomed the Sky.

The Sky committed just 16 total turnovers, but 13 came in the second half. And many of those occurred way out on the perimeter, so the Lynx didn't have far to go to convert easy layups.

"On those 13 turnovers, they scored 18 points where there was no defense, no nothing," said Sky coach Steven Key. "The scary thing is, we still had the opportunity to win the game."

The Sky got the last shot at the basket in regulation, but a runner down the lane by rookie guard Epiphanny Prince just missed.

Augustus put the Lynx on her back in the overtime. She had 7 points in the extra session en route to a game-high 27 points.

The Lynx also got 19 points from Lindsay Whalen, 17 from Charde Houston and 11 points from Monica Wright.