When Seimone Augustus tore her ACL last month, it looked like the Lynx season was over just as it was getting started.  Thanks to players like Roneeka Hodges however, the Lynx remain a factor in the Western Conference and may still earn their first playoff berth since 2004.

The sharp-shooting Hodges, who replaced Augustus in the starting line-up, is shooting 44% from behind the three-point line and has scored in double figures in 8 straight games heading into Sunday‘s contest in Seattle.  The veteran forward took time out for a quick chat following Tuesday’s practice.

DZ: Coach Gillom said you’ve been a big surprise to her this year, have you surprised yourself at all?

HODGES: No (laughs), I didn’t surprise myself at all. I am always the one who has believed in myself the most. I know the things I can do on the court, it was just a matter of me getting an opportunity and producing and putting it on showcase.

DZ: Obviously, you replaced Seimone in the starting line-up; did you put any pressure about yourself because of that?

HODGES: No, I don’t put any pressure on myself; I just look at it as an opportunity. Seimone is a great player of course, and meant a lot to this team. You never want to see her go down like that – it is going to take the whole team as a unit to replace some of the things that she did, but I don’t think one person can fill her shoes. I think as a team we’re coming together well and doing a little bit more.

DZ: Do you just look at it like “I am bringing my game in, I am not replacing Seimone”?

HODGES: Exactly. I don’t look at it as I am replacing her, I look at it like an opportunity – I am getting more minutes, but I don’t look at it like I am filling Seimone’s shoes.

DZ: You came over here from the dispersal draft of the Houston Comets, what was that experience like – seeing the team disband and all of the uncertainty?

HODGES: The whole thing – how it happened – was a really sad day, but at the end of the day you have to understand that it’s a business and things happen and you have to sit down and await your fate basically.

DZ: Did you know much about the Lynx before then?

HODGES: Yeah, I knew about the Lynx because this going on my 5th year in league and I’ve followed things real closely. I just had to sit and wait and see who was going to chose me.

DZ: So you come into camp, you had to fight for a job – they had Anna Deforge here too, who was on the team last year – what was your mindset going into camp?

HODGES: I just came into camp and just tried to play hard and do exactly what the coaches asked me to do, basically that’s it. I felt like I could only control so much and I tried to control what I could control and fortunately it worked out well.

See more of David Zingler’s interviews with Lynx players:

July 12: Quanitra Hollingsworth
July 1: Charde Houston