MINNEAPOLIS – It took two free throws from Napheesa Collier with 8.1 seconds left on the clock to ice the game and give the Minnesota Lynx a 80-75 win over the Chicago Sky in front of 8,810 fans at Target Center on Sunday.
After the two Williams players in the game, Minnesota guard Courtney Williams and Chicago center Elizabeth Williams, exchanged baskets, Napheesa Collier, the Lynx forward, made a jump shot to give the Lynx the 4-2 lead after the first two minutes of play.
The next three minutes belonged to Chicago. Guard Rachel Banham made a three-pointer, forwards Angel Reese, and Michaela Onyenwere along with Elizabeth Williams each made layups. Minnesota mustered up one layup from forward Alanna Smith. The Sky took the 9-2 run to build an 11-6 lead with 4:56 left in the opening quarter when the official’s timeout occurred.
Minnesota’s defensive woes continued. Sky guard Ariel Atkins connected on a three-pointer. Reese made an open layup. Elizabeth Williams also made a layup. That 9-2 run suddenly became a 16-2 Chicago run as the Sky led 18-6 with 3:26 left in the first quarter.
Courtney Williams made a jump shot to get the Lynx out of their scoring malaise. This was followed up with a layup from Collier. However, Sky guard Rebecca Allen scored on a layup and was fouled by Smith. Allen missed the free throw, however. Reese made an impossible toss up shot between defenders, and Atkins got a last layup in before the quarter came to a close. After the first quarter horn sounded, Chicago led 24-10. The Sky shot 55.0 percent in the quarter to the Lynx 33.3 percent. Minnesota gave up four turnovers that led to five Chicago points, while the Sky protected the ball so well they did not commit a turnover in the first ten minutes of the game.
Lynx forward Diamond Miller came off the bench and hit a three-pointer when play resumed. Banham answered with a three-pointer for Chicago, making the score 27-13 in favor of the Sky.
Minnesota finally made their first run of the game. Collier sank two free throws after getting fouled by Allen. Kayla McBride, the Lynx guard, snuck in a layup. Lynx forward Jessica Shepard made a layup but missed the free throw after getting fouled by Onyenware on the play. Miller hit her second three-pointer of the quarter. Minnesota took a 9-0 run to climb back into the game. Chicago still led 27-22 when the Sky took a timeout with 7:57 left until halftime.
Coming out of the timeout, Banham went to town with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Sky an 11-point lead. However, it was a brief intermission between Lynx runs. McBride answered one of those three-pointers with one of her own. Courtney Williams added a fast break layup. Shepard made a layup. Courtney Williams attempted a three-pointer that missed, but a late whistle gave Banham her third foul and the Lynx guard went to the free throw line for three free throw attempts. All three shots were successful and Minnesota now trailed by one point after going on a 10-0 run. It was 33-32 in favor of the Sky with 4:24 left in the second quarter.
Onyenwere killed the run with a put back layup to extend the Sky lead to three points. However, Courtney Williams made a jump shot to pull the Lynx within one. This was followed by a jump shot by Minnesota forward Maria Kliundikova to give them a one-point lead. Collier’s layup extended the lead to three points, but a Reese layup cut it back to one. Minnesota led 38-37 at halftime. Chicago gave up seven turnovers for 10 Lynx points while Minnesota only gave up one turnover for two Sky points in the quarter.
Courtney Williams took it upon herself to get things going in the third quarter. She started off with a jump shot, and then added a fast break layup to extend the Lynx lead to five points. Onyenwere made a layup for the Sky, which was negated by a Courtney Williams put back layup on her own miss. Then Collier’s jump shot pushed the Lynx lead to seven, 46-39 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.
After Elizabeth Williams and Collier exchanged layups, Chicago made their next run. Reese made a shot. Nurse and Banham each made three pointers. The Sky 8-0 run gave them the 49-48 lead with 2:40 left. However, Courtney Williams answered with a jump shot and a three-pointer, Kliundikova added a three-pointer, and Chicago only mustered up a three-pointer from Atkins just before the quarter ended, as their response. Minnesota held the 56-52 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Every possession counted when play resumed after the quarter break. Elizabeth Williams made a put back layup to pull the Sky to within two points, but two free throws from Miller after getting fouled by Allen pushed that back up again. Then Miller made a layup to give the Lynx the six-point lead, but got caught trash talking at Reese and was hit with a technical foul. Atkins made the free shot and the score was 60-55 in favor of the Lynx with 7:41 left on the clock.
Onyenwere’s three-pointer made it a two point game again, but three free throws and a layup by Collier pushed the lead back up to seven. Reese, Onyenware and Atkins each made two free throws, coming out of a Chicago timeout, but a layup from McBride and a three pointer from Courtney Williams continued to keep Minnesota arm’s length ahead. The Lynx led 70-64 when they called timeout with 3:47 left on the clock.
Every move that Chicago made was met by one from Minnesota. Banham makes a jump shot, McBride hits a shot clock buzzer beater. Reese makes a layup on an inbounds pass, McBride makes a free throw after getting fouled by Atkins. Banham makes a three-pointer, McBride makes another free throw after getting fouled by Atkins.
Even though Chicago was chipping away slowly at the Lynx lead, they were running out of time. With 11.3 seconds remaining on the clock, Banham stepped up to launch a three-pointer and was met by a block by Alanna Smith at the point of attack. Banham then fouled Collier, who iced the game with two free throws. Minnesota held on to win 80-75.
Minnesota went 30-for-72 (41.7 percent) from the field; 6-for-25 (24.0 percent) from three-point range; and 14-for-17 (82.4 percent) from the free throw line. They turned the ball over nine times for 14 Sky points.
“Our level of compete was not appropriate as we started the game, so we waited until we got down 14 and decided to [play],” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “We need to be more mindful from when the ball is tipped.”
Chicago went 29-for-78 (37.2 percent) from the field; 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range; and 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe. They turned the ball over 14 times leading to 16 Lynx points.
“If you look at the box score, we won a l ot of areas in this game – we won the paint, we won the rebounds, we don second chance. I think where we got hurt was in transition,” said Sky head coach Tyler Marsh. “We took care of the ball at times and when we didn’t tey made us pay for them. Against a team like that, we have to do a lot better job of not letting those mistakes compound on each other. Overall, I thought it was a great effort.”
The Sky led 36-30 in points-in-the-paint and 11-6 in second chance point categories. The Lynx led 19-8 in fast break points and 19-5 in bench points. There was one tie and six lead changes during the game.
“Up until the fourth quarter, defending without fouling, we were terrific. Ten blocked shots. Loved our bench play,” said Reeve.
The Lynx were led by 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Courtney Williams. Napheesa Collier added 21 points, Kayla McBride pitched in for 11 points, and Diamond Miller was good for an additional 10 points.
“It’s all about mental toughness. Your body is going to do what your mind tells it to. If you come to the game saying, ‘Oh I’m tired,’ you’re already setting yourself up for failure,” said Courtney Williams. “We don’t make excuses. If we lost this game, nobody would have cared that we came off a back-to-back. Our mentality is that whatever it takes to win this game is what we are going to do.”
Rachel Banham led the Sky with 20 points. Angel Reese added 16 points, Elizabeth Williams pitched in for 12 points, and Michaela Onyenwere and Ariel Atkins each added 11 points. Angel Reese led all rebounders with 17. Reese and Atkins each dished six assists to lead Chicago.
“We can beat anybody, and we know that. We’ve had some struggle games in the beginning, but these last few games we’ve really found ourselves,” said Banham. “We found our identity. I just think we’re just playing so well off of each other and everyone is having their big moments, everyone who hits the floor. We really trust each other and like each other.”
The Minnesota Lynx (17-2) take to the road to face the Phoenix Mercury (12-6) at 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Chicago Sky (5-12) travel to Washington on Tuesday to face the Mystics (8-10) at 11:30 a.m. CT.
