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Alanna Smith scored 15 points on 5-of-5
shooting in her Sky debut. Elizabeth Williams, another newcomer,
added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Rebekah Gardner added
10 points for the Sky.
Chicago outscored the Lynx 22-3 in the second quarter for a
17-point halftime lead en route to the solid victory.
Napheesa Collier had 17 points and four blocked shots for
Minnesota. Kayla McBride added 12 points for the Lynx, who
committed 21 turnovers.
Minnesota's Diamond Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in this
year's draft, had nine points in 22-plus minutes. She was 3-of-9
shooting and collected seven rebounds.
It was a strong opener for the Sky, who lost Candace Parker and
Courtney Vandersloot as free agents in the offseason. In
addition, 3-point specialist Allie Quigley is sitting out the
season.
Chicago played without free-agent signee Isabelle Harrison due
to a knee injury.
The Sky shot 43.1 percent from the field, including 9 of 24 from
3-point range. Smith made all three of her 3-point attempts.
Minnesota made 33.3 percent of its shots and was 6 of 24 from
behind the arc.
The Lynx trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter
but pulled within 71-60 on a basket by Jessica Shepard with six
minutes left in the game.
However, Williams and Marina Mabrey responded with consecutive
baskets to push the Chicago margin back to 15 with five minutes
remaining.
Minnesota later scored six straight points to trail 75-66 on
McBride's putback with 1:03 left. But Alanna Smith made two free
throws with 55.7 seconds remaining as Chicago closed it out.
Copper had 12 first-half points as the Sky held a 44-27 lead at
the break.
Minnesota was 1-of-15 shooting with 10 turnovers during the
second period.
After Minnesota moved within 11 in the third quarter, the Sky
scored 13 of the next 18 points to take a 19-point lead on
Morgan Bertsch's layup with 1:02 left in the period. Bridget
Carlton drained a trey with 4.5 seconds left as the Lynx trailed
65-49 entering the fourth quarter.
--Field Level Media
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