Lynx can’t recover from poor defensive start in loss to Chicago

The grind of the busy portion of their schedule may be catching up to the Lynx Playing in their sixth event in days Minnesota came out flat defensively Saturday in Chicago and wasn t able to recover as it fell to the Sky It s the second loss in three games for Minnesota who s played a pair of back to backs over the last week The Lynx will play in Chicago again on Monday and host Phoenix on Wednesday before the all-star break Minnesota will surely hope to emerge out of the gates better defensively on Monday The Lynx surrendered points in the first frame in Saturday s nationally-televised bout and in the second as Chicago built a -point halftime advantage on the strength of shooting The lead grew to as several as midway through the third before the Lynx began to battle back A Napheesa Collier jumper capped a - run in which Minnesota held Chicago - to just three buckets over a six-minute span to pull the Lynx back within two early in the fourth Chicago went just for from the field in the second half But as was the circumstance in the fourth quarter of Wednesday s loss to Phoenix Minnesota again went cold offensively late in Chicago A Courtney Williams jumper brought Minnesota to within three with minute seconds to play but that was the final time the Lynx - would total The Lynx scored just eight points over the finals six-plus minutes going for from the field with two turnovers in that time Angel Reese finished with points and rebounds good for her eighth-straight double double Kamilla Cardoso added points and rebounds while Ariel Atkins paced the Sky with points Chicago who s now won four of its past seven games after a - start to the campaign had points in the paint and second-chance points as the Sky out-rebounded Minnesota - Interior defensive issues continue to be an issue for Minnesota Collier led Minnesota with points and eight rebounds and climbed into the top five all-time in scoring in Lynx history in the defeat points Kayla McBride added points and Williams tallied points eight boards and eight assists Minnesota shot sub- from the field