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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
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