Napheesa Collier had 29 points with nine rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx never trailed en route to an 88-79 road victory over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.
Jessica Shepard added 17 points for the Lynx (14-15), who shot 51.7 percent overall and 21 of 26 from the line to avoid a third straight defeat. Kayla McBride scored 13 and Nikolina Milic had 12 off the bench as Minnesota improved to 8-6 on the road.
The Lynx led by as many as 11 but held a three-point edge to begin the fourth quarter. However, Minnesota scored the first seven of the final period, powered by four points from Collier, to go up by 10. The Lynx did not allow Chicago to get closer than four the rest of the way.
Kahleah Copper had 23 points and Elizabeth Williams recorded a season-high 18 with nine rebounds for the Sky (12-16), who made 11 3-pointers while their three-game winning streak ended.
Minnesota led by seven at halftime, but after Chicago moved within four early in the third, Collier got hot. She scored Minnesota’s next 11 points, and the Lynx led 60-49 with 3:53 remaining in the period.
However, the Sky scored 13 of the final 18 points of the third, including two 3-pointers from Robyn Parks. Courtney Williams’ 3 — and first points — made it 65-62 entering the fourth.
Collier had 12 first-half points, including six of her team’s first eight in the second quarter before picking up a third foul. Milic, though, stepped up with five straight points to give Minnesota a 42-31 lead.
The Sky, though, used a 3 from Marina Mabrey (11 points) and baskets from Copper and Elizabeth Williams to score seven of the final 10 of the half and trail 45-38 at the break.
Copper hit her first three 3-point attempts and finished with nine first-quarter points. However, Milic and Shepard each had a pair of baskets during an 8-0 run that put Minnesota up 26-18. The Lynx outscored Chicago 18-6 in the paint to lead by seven after one period.
Chicago’s Ruthy Hebard served a one-game suspension for her involvement in an altercation Sunday at Dallas.
–Field Level Media
