Augustus, Wiggins both out for rest of season

Sep 11, 2008 - 9:27 PM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Lynx will be without its two biggest stars for the final two games of the season.

Both guards Seimone Augustus and Candice Wiggins have been shut down for the remainder of the season due to separate injuries, the team announced Thursday.

A member of the gold-medal winning women's national team at Beijing, Augustus is sidelined after suffering a mild concussion when she fell hard to the floor in the first quarter of Tuesday's 86-76 victory over the Indiana Fever.

One of the WNBA's top rookies, Wiggins was also hurt in Tuesday's win, injuring her knee in the closing seconds of the second quarter. The 21-year-old had a test that diagnosed a tear to the lateral meniscus of her right knee, an injury where surgery is recommended.

Sitting three games behind Sacramento for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, Minnesota (15-17) will close out the season with a home game against Phoenix on Friday and road game at Washington on Sunday.

"I am sure that both Seimone and Candice would fight to play in our last two games if we were still in the hunt for a playoff spot," Lynx head coach Don Zierden said. "However, we feel that it is in their best interest to sit out our last two games.

"While we are incredibly disappointed for Seimone and Candice, as well as the fans who are coming to our last home game tomorrow night to watch them, we don't want either of them to do anything that could jeopardize their tremendously promising futures in the WNBA with the Lynx."

The Lynx's leading scorer at 19.1 points, Augustus will have her streak of scoring in double figures in 88 consecutive games, just four games shy of the league record held by former Houston player Cynthia Cooper.

The third overall pick in the 2008 draft, Wiggins is second on the team and second among all rookies in scoring with 15.7 points. He also leads the Lynx in assists with 3.0.