Sky dominate glass in upset win over Lynx, Angel Reese's double-double tear continues

Yahoo

a day ago

The Chicago Sky handed out Angel Reese NBA 2K26 T-shirts Saturday at Wintrust Arena, three days after Reese was named a cover athlete for the basketball video game.
Fittingly, the two-time All-Star forward continued her video-game-like double-double streak for the Sky (7-13), this time in a 87-81 upset win over the WNBA's top team, the Minnesota Lynx (18-4).
Advertisement
The six-point victory marked the first time this season Chicago has beaten a team with a .500 record or better. The Sky were previously 0-10 in those games.
Veteran guard Ariel Atkins led Chicago with a game-high 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting. But the Sky's domination on the glass sealed the deal. Reese and fellow big Kamilla Cardoso spearheaded that effort, combining for 26 rebounds — the Lynx had 28 rebounds total.
Reese now has eight double-doubles in a row, and 14 total, and Cardoso notched her second of the season.
"Somebody said we wasn't the best young core in the league," Reese told the ABC broadcast in a postgame interview, when asked about Cardoso.
Advertisement
"I think we're the best young core in the league, for sure. Hands down."
The Sky led from start to finish Saturday, except Minnesota, at one point down by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, pulled within two points of Chicago in the final frame.
Reese and Cardoso — who also scored 19 and 17 points, respectively — used their size and tenacity to hold off the comeback-hungry Lynx.
With under a minute to go, Reese drew a loose ball foul on WNBA MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, who was trying to box out the Sky frontcourt star. That awarded Chicago another offensive possession, which resulted in a floater from guard Rachel Banham.
Advertisement
That bucket gave the Sky a two-possession lead. On the other end, Cardoso blocked a 3-point-shooting Courtney Williams. Cardoso came down with the rebound, was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 87-81. A couple Lynx desperation misses, one final Reese board and the Sky emerged victorious.
Collier finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. She also ended her drought beyond the arc, finally sinking a 3 in the fourth quarter after missing her last 16 attempts from long range. But both Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride shot below 40% from the field.
The Lynx have played eight games in the last two weeks. They've dropped two of their last three contests after starting the season 17-2.
Two of Minnesota's next three games are against Chicago, so head coach Cheryl Reeve's team won't have to wait long for opportunities to avenge Saturday's defeat.
Advertisement
"Everybody came alive, from top to bottom," Reese said of the Sky's triumph. "Everybody fought. Everybody came in and did their job, came in off the bench with a lot of energy.
"This is just a great win in front of our home crowd."