KEY RUNS
• Minnesota opened up the second quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 40-33 lead with 5:04 remaining in the half
• Minnesota closed the half on an 11-7 run to take a 51-42 lead into the break
• The Sky went on a 15-8 run to cut the Lynx lead to 61-57
• Chicago’s 9-0 run gave it a 70-66 lead near the end of the third quarter
• Minnesota closed out the game on a 16-8 run to seal the victory 93-85
KEY STATS
• Chicago’s bench unit outscored Minnesota’s 29-0
• The Lynx outrebounded the Sky 39-34
• Both teams made 14 free-throws in the game, with Chicago shooting 100% from the line
• Chicago had its most assists (26) since its August 3 win in Atlanta
• The Lynx outshot the Sky from the field, 48.0% to 43.2%
CHICAGO NOTES
• With her sixth assist, Courtney Vandersloot broke her own WNBA career record for most assists in a
season (previously 258). She finished the game with 10 assists
• Cheyenne Parker matched her career high in points with 22 and set a career high with six blocks. It was
the third time Parker led the Sky in scoring this season
• Astou Ndour scored a season-high 17 points, with 12 coming in the first half, also a season high. She also
matched her career high in steals with three
• Kayla Alexander scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in three minutes in her Sky debut after
being signed on August 22
MINNESOTA NOTES
• Sylvia Fowles recorded her thirteenth double-double of the season and set a season high in scoring with
21 points. She also grabbed a season-high seven offensive rebounds, one fewer than the entire Sky team
secured
• Napheesa Collier averaged 19.7 points per her three games against the Sky this season, including
draining seven of eight 3-point attempts
• Damiris Dantas recorded her third career double-double, her first since September, 9, 2015. She also set
season highs in rebounds with 10 and in first-half points with 15
• Odyssey Sims led the Lynx in assists for the 18th time this season
• Temi Fagbenle was held scoreless for just the second time this season
POSTGAME QUOTES SKY GENERAL MANAGER & HEAD COACH JAMES WADE
On the losing game after the lead in fourth:
“I don’t think we took it in our hands. I’m not going to say we gave it away. They took it from us. It’s that simple. We didn’t execute with the fire that we needed to and they put us on our heels, and we we’re climbing back into the game. It was just too much for us to overcome.”
On fourth-quarter play:
“No, I mean, they’re a tough team to play against. They’re difficult. You know, we can try and simulate it in practice, how hard they are going to be, but it’s a different beast once you play against it. I don’t know if we ever got ready for it and we didn’t get into a flow. We couldn’t get enough defensive stops where we could run and that hurt us.”
SKY CENTER CHEYENNE PARKER
Overall thoughts on the game: “It was a tough one. We played hard. But we didn’t start out with the aggression that we needed, especially coming at their house, you know they’re overly aggressive, very physical and the refs let them play. I think that’s what hurt us. If we had started out a little more aggressive we could’ve got them.”
On difficulty playing against Sylvia Fowles:
“Extremely. She’s one of the toughest to play in the league. She’s so strong. She just knows where to position her body and how to get the ball and put it in the hole. It’s always a challenge. Definitely a team effort.”
SKY GUARD COURTNEY VANDERSLOOT
On breaking assist record:
“My teammates. If it wasn’t for them I would be getting zero assists. So, you know, I’m lucky to have a lot of threats on this team. People just make baskets. It’s my job just to give it to them they just do the rest.”
On looking into the playoffs:
“You know we want to make some noise. We still have a couple games left. You know our seeding isn’t set so you know, we’re still focused on what we’re doing here and once the playoffs come, you know, we’ll refocus. And, you know, this is a new season, it’s an exciting year because I think anyone can take it and we think that we have the ability in this locker room to make a good run in the playoffs.”
LYNX HEAD COACH CHERYL REEVE
On Tuesday’s home win against the Chicago Sky:
“Their identity is so solid. They’ve come so far from where they were in the preseason all the way until now. We’ve seen them play on the road, they’re fearless and they know what they’re trying to get at and I thought we were hard to play against. Danielle Robinson, back-to-back games of having that tough assignment, not getting much of a blow, our bench, unfortunately, we’ll try next game. This game was not their game. We had heavy, heavy minutes to try to win that game knowing that we had so many days off, that was something that we needed to do. Obviously, he was all in. There’s the fourth seed. That’s up in the air now with the losses today, so I know Chicago wanted that one pretty badly. So, I think when you’re able to withstand one, their style of play and two, the fight that they had to win this game. This was a great win for us. Congrats to Sylvia [Fowles] for now being third all-time on the rebounding list, passing Lisa Leslie. And Odyssey Sims now, four twenty-plus and eight-plus assists. That’s incredible. All in the same season.”
On clinching a playoff spot:
“The whole season has been different. The idea of making the playoffs, as I was just telling our team, even when we were running away with the No. 1 seed, when we clinched the playoff spot, we celebrated it because that’s the first step. So, that’s what we told this team, it’s never a foregone conclusion. We never take that for granted. Obviously, with the fight, this team has gone through some ups-and-downs and growing and letting us know on this homestand who we want to be. It’s a great accomplishment and I wanted to make sure they celebrate those successes, even though it’s still just the first step.”
LYNX FORWARD NAPHEESA COLLIER
On the fourth quarter stretch: “We were talking about that stretch too, it felt like the crowd was on their feet for a full minute. We just kept getting great play after great play and it’s so fun to play in an environment like that.”
On Sylvia Fowles’ performance:
“She was everywhere. Just her aggressiveness and her persistence under the block is just amazing. Her force, just so dominant.”
On staying calm throughout the games:
“We got tired of it, I guess. It’s not fun, obviously. I think we definitely learned from it. It’s a huge thing we learned from because it’s something that happened to us multiple times with huge gaps in between. We come out with the mindset every single time at halftime that we’re not letting that happen to us again. We come out in those first few minutes and when we feel that happening again, we try to calm ourselves down and not get frazzled like we did before.”
LYNX CENTER SYLVIA FOWLES
On clinching a playoff berth tonight:
“It feels great. I’m happy and very proud of our team and the way we’ve been performing here at home. I think we know what it takes for us to get going and we are clicking on all cylinders so that’s always a good thing.”
On getting angry or fired up about the lead change:
“More fired up. Not so much angry. Just making sure that once I get my opportunity to go back out there on the floor I go out there and play smart. But at the same time not taking away from my edge and what I do best on defense and that’s being aggressive.”