ittle power to prevent pros from fighting, their imprimatur is often a major factor in a professional boxers

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Lynx rushed out to another big lead Friday night. And every time the Phoenix Mercury began to chip away, Maya Moore pushed them aside.Moore scored 26 points, all in the first three quarters, and the defending WNBA champion Lynx beat the Mercury 96-86 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the semifinal series.Coming off a record-setting 113-point outburst in Game 1, Minnesota shot 61 percent in the first quarter and took a 35-24 lead. Moore scored 12 points in a three-minute flurry to close the quarter.Shes a very difficult person to guard because you cant necessarily script what shes going to do, said Minnesotas Cheryl Reeve, honored as the WNBA coach of the year Friday. Mayas got a good feel for the game in terms of moving without the basketball.Lindsay Whalen scored 12 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota, playing at the Xcel Energy Center -- home of the NHLs Minnesota Wild -- for the second straight game because of a scheduling conflict at the Target Center in Minneapolis.The Lynx missed their first five shots of the second quarter, but Moore stole an outlet pass and hit a 3-pointer to push Minnesotas lead to 12.Phoenix cut it to 63-57 midway through the third quarter. Moore answered with one of her four 3-pointers on the night and the Mercury didnt come within six again until the final 30 seconds.In the end, the Mercury paid for their poor first quarter.To let them score 35 points, that was the ballgame, Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello said. You cant play with the Lynx for 30 minutes. Theyre too good of a team.Still, with Moores scoreless fourth quarter fresh in her mind, Reeve said the Lynx need more out of their former league MVP.I know that the stat line says she was really, really good, but I think overall Maya Moore is a better player that what we saw tonight, Reeve said.Rebekkah Brunson added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Lynx. Fowles was honored Friday as the leagues defensive player of the year.Diana Taurasi had 31 points for the eighth-seeded Mercury. Penny Taylor added 16, and Marta Xargay had 10.We did a much better job of matching their intensity and their toughness, Taurasi said. Unfortunately, we didnt bring it in the first quarter and that was probably the difference.FOUL TROUBLEThe teams combined for 54 fouls, including 17 in the first quarter. Phoenix center Britney Griner was especially hampered by the barrage of whistles. She picked up two fouls in the first 1:41 and was pulled from the game. Griner returned with 3:23 to go in the first quarter, but picked up her third foul with 50.8 seconds left in the quarter. She played just 4:13 in the first half.The offenses took advantage of the numerous trips to the line. The teams combined to make their first 25 free throws and made 63 of 68 from the line on the night.TIP-INSMercury: Center Kelsey Bone missed the game because of a strained left elbow. She was injured in the second half in Game 1 on Wednesday night. ... The Mercury have played four consecutive road playoff games. They won the first two, single-elimination games at Indiana and New York, before losing two straight in Minnesota.Lynx: Minnesota has won its first playoff game in each of the last six seasons. ... Jia Perkins had 12 points. ... Minnesota played without guard Anna Cruz and center Janel McCarville, both sidelined with back injuries.UP NEXTGame 3 is Sunday in Phoenix. 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The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. A former IBF flyweight champion from Thailand and a French-Cameroonian middleweight contender are the most prominent professional boxers attempting to win berths in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics during the final qualifying tournament.The International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced the entrants Saturday for the tournament beginning Sunday in Vargas, Venezuela.AIBA decided earlier this year to allow professional boxers to compete for an Olympic berth, but Amnat Ruenroeng and Hassan NDam are the most prominent fighters to seize the opportunity.AIBAs decision sparked renewed interest in the often-overlooked Olympic sport and drew tentative interest from some pros. The gambit also received widespread condemnation from boxers and coaches concerned about the safety and sanctity of the amateur sport.After so much drama, its increasingly likely that no prominent professional fighters will be in the Rio tournament.Ruenroeng and NDam are both former Olympians who fell one victory shy of a medal in their first trips to the Games.The 36-year-old Ruenroeng is competing at the 60-kilogram lightweight limit in Venezuela. He is most famous for taking up boxing while serving a 15-year jail sentence for robbery.Ruenroeng fought for Thailand at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, losing to Mongolias Purevdorjiin Serdamba in the quarterfinals.He didnt turn pro until 2012, but he won the IBF flyweight title in January 2014 and defended it five times, including a unanimous decision over Chinese star Zou Shiming, a two-time Olympic gold medalist.Ruenroeng lost his title on May 25, getting stopped by John Riel Casimero. Less than six weeks later, he will attempt to win a spot in the Rio Olympics.The 32-year-old NDam is competing for Cameroon at the 81-kilogram light heavyweight limit in Venezuela. He aalso fought for Cameroon at the Athens Games in 2004, losing in the quarterfinals to Russias eventual gold medalist Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov.ddddddddddddNDam won his first 27 pro fights, mostly in France. He briefly held interim middleweight titles with the WBO and WBA, but Peter Quillin beat NDam by unanimous decision in October 2012 for the first loss of his career. NDam then was battered by Canadas David Lemieux in June 2015 in a bout for the IBF middleweight title.AIBAs Olympic invitations to pros drew scathing condemnation from professional boxings sanctioning bodies, who have obvious reasons to protect their own position in the sport. Yet their questions about the safety of matching seasoned fighters against frequently youthful amateurs were echoed by dozens of prominent boxers, including Lennox Lewis and Ricky Hatton.The Mexico-based WBC announced it will ban any of its top-15 boxers for two years for competing in the Olympics, while the IBF said it would strip a champions title or level a one-year banishment from its rankings. While the governing bodies hold little power to prevent pros from fighting, their imprimatur is often a major factor in a professional boxers financial success.Many pros, including Amir Khan and Wladimir Klitschko, showed initial interest in Rio before backing away, citing numerous reasons.Two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko believes pros would need more time to adjust to the daily weigh-ins, three-round bouts and intensive tournaments in the Olympics-style sport. While Rio appears to be a bust for AIBA in attracting top pros, Lomachenko believes bigger names will attempt to fight at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. ' ' '