Lynx hold off Sky, Angel Reese 79-74 to bounce back from a defeat.
Courtney Williams scored 22 points to help the Lynx beat visiting Chicago, which got 17 points and 19 rebounds from Angel Reese. The Sky rookie broke the WNBA single-season rebounding record.
After the Lynx had finally beaten the Chicago Sky 79-74 on Sunday at Target Center, after she had essentially pulled her team across the finish line, Courtney Williams was asked about her play down the stretch.
“I mean, they was going under every screen,” Williams said. “They going to give me the shot, I’m going to take it.”
She makes it sound so simple.
With the score tied and just under 8 minutes left, Williams hit back-to-back jumpers. Her specialty — both midrange. The first from 21 feet, the second from 18. In the final 7:23, Williams shot 5-for-6 from the floor, scoring 10 points in her team’s 17-12 run to finish the game. She made 11 of 16 shots overall, the most makes and her highest shooting percentage (68.8%) of the season.
The rest of the Lynx shot 38%.
“It was great,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Just putting her in simple action, just simplified it. Let her play-make. … And then Court kind of taking command of things.”
The Lynx (24-9) bounced back from Friday’s one-sided loss at Dallas. The Sky (11-21) lost their sixth game in a row and for the 10th time in 13 games.
But not without a fight. The Lynx were without center Alanna Smith, who hurt her left ankle Friday. That left the Lynx shorthanded in the post against the WNBA’s best rebounding team.
The Chicago Sky rookie wasn’t happy after losing to her archrival.
Angel Reese
Had Caitlin Clark made her debut before or after Angel Reese, we would probably be talking about the Chicago Sky rookie as the best of the year. She’s had considerable performances throughout the season and she even was considered the ROY favorite when things weren’t working out for Caitlin Clark. This evening was the most important challenge for Reese, she either stayed in the Rookie of the Year conversation or Caitlin Clark
Angel Reese complains about ref calling in Caitlin Clark’s favor
After the game, Angel Reese was obviously angry for losing and she said something that made her seem like a sore loser. She claimed that Caitlin Clark gets treated differently by the referee and gets more calls in her favor. This is classic behavior from a pro athlete who absolutely hates losing. On the positive side, this fired up is exactly how we need to have a player as talented as Angel Reese for the rest of the season. Starting next season, she will be even more fired up if Clark wins Rookie of the Year. But don’t worry this is only the start of what promises to become one of the greatest rivalries in sports history.
Imagine a few years from now when these two rookies are already familiarized with the WNBA, how their rivalry will be then. Together, they are already changing the WNBA for good but this is only the start of something truly historic. In the standings, none of both teams seem to be strong enough to make it far in the WNBA playoffs. The Indiana Fever reached a 16-16 record while the Chicago Sky have an 11-20 record. They both share the Eastern Conference and they stand third and fourth of their sector, respectively. Tonight, the biggest battle was for ROY and we all know who came out on top. Debate, over.
