Kahleah Copper led five Chicago scorers in double figures with 20 points, and the Sky clinched a berth in the WNBA playoffs with a 92-87 defeat of the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Friday.
Chicago (17-22) came into the contest needing only a win to earn a playoff bid thanks to Los Angeles’ loss at New York on Thursday. The Sky responded with a big second quarter, outscoring Minnesota 28-20 to build a lead they held the entire second half.
The Lynx (19-20) — coming into Chicago one game behind the Dallas Wings for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the postseason’s opening round — battled back to cut an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to two.
The Sky answered with 19-9 run that began in the late third quarter and extended into the fourth, capped when Copper sank one of her five made 3-pointers while under duress with 3:22 to go.
Copper was called for a technical foul for taunting after the basket, but Chicago maintained control down the stretch.
Minnesota halved the deficit to six points over the next minute, but Copper helped snuff out the rally when she found Marina Mabrey at almost the same spot near the top of the key where Copper hit her deep shot.
Mabrey connected, one of her four made 3-pointers, to punctuate a 19-point performance. Copper’s assist was one of five. Courtney Williams — who also scored 13 points — dished 11 assists for the Sky.
Chicago’s 11-of-22 shooting overall from 3-point range helped make the difference, as Minnesota finished 7-for-19 from deep.
Diamond Miller shot 3-for-4 from long range for the Lynx and 10-for-11 overall en route to 24 points. Napheesa Collier led all scorers with 28 points. Kayla McBride added 16 and Tiffany Mitchell scored 10 for Minnesota.
Alanna Smith finished with 11 points for Chicago, while Ruthy Hebard shot 4-for-5 from the floor on the way to 10 points off the bench.
Dana Evans contributed another nine points off the Sky bench. Chicago’s Sika Kone matched Minnesota’s Dorka Juhasz with a game-high 10 rebounds.
–Field Level Media