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WNBA: Minnesota Lynx at Chicago Sky – Notes From the Office

Originally posted on Beyond Women's Sports
By Martin Ruben | Last updated Jul 16, 2025 11:27 AM ET

What a difference a day of rest and a later start can make. The Minnesota Lynx met the Chicago Sky for the second time in three days. Make no mistake; the Sky were not going to roll over for the league leaders, and the Lynx had no intention of going down two straight games.

The Lynx fought hard from the get-go and came out far more aggressively than they did on Saturday. Shots started to fall early on for Minnesota, the defense looked sharper, and the established Lynx chemistry was cooking.

Minnesota put a better defense on Kamilla Cardoso from the beginning, and held her to 6 points for the game compared to the 17 points on Saturday. Ariel Atkins, who led the Sky in the previous game with 27 points, did not play the second half due to an injury and scored only two points.

Leading Scorers And Recap Of Minnesota – Chicago Matchup

Although Minnesota didn’t get much bench production, the starters did a much better job this time around. Napheesa Collier had the high game score with 29 points, followed by Courtney Williams with 18, Kayla McBride with 17, and Bridget Carleton with 11. Chicago was led by Angel Reese with 22 and 10 boards, followed by Rachael Banham with 15 and Rebecca Allen off the bench with 10.

Minnesota took the first quarter 28 – 24, Chicago the second 22 – 16, taking a point lead into halftime. Where Minnesota played a stronger game in the first, Chicago regrouped and found some more shots in the second. Carleton started the third quarter with a three for the Lynx to take a one-point lead. Chicago never had another lead. Minnesota took the game 91 – 78 to end a four game road trip 2 – 2.

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Chicago is playing much better than their record indicates. While they are still getting used to playing together, the improvement from the beginning of the season is palpable. Allen is finding her shots, Rachel Banham is getting much more time with the absence of Courtney Vandersloot and is shooting well, especially from three, and the team as a whole is better connected.

Rookie Hailey Van Lith plays limited minutes, and Maddy Westbeld has seen even less. While there is still a lot of basketball yet to be played this season, the Sky could possibly secure a playoff spot.They might face a long shot with Las Vegas and Golden State ahead of them, but it is possible.

Lynx Making Moves And What’s Next?

After Saturday’s game, the Lynx waived second year player Alissa Pili. There has been a lot of chatter about the possibility of the Lynx getting Belgian star and former WNBA player Emma Meesseman.As of this writing, no one has made a decision. However, the talk is Emma is down to two teams, one east and one west. Minnesota or perhaps Phoenix in the west, and New York in the east. There are arguments for each team, but only Meesseman knows. I suspect an answer will come very soon.

Minnesota maintains a four game lead in the standings. Their next test comes on Wednesday with a home game against the Phoenix Mercury, who beat them on the road recently. Chicago will welcome the Atlanta Dream for a day game on Wednesday as well. Atlanta has lost two in a row and will be hungry for a win. Can Chicago pull another upset? Stay tuned.

And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.

This article first appeared on Beyond Women's Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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