The Sky Pulled Away From The Lynx Late To Set Up A Semifinals Series With Connecticut

After a thriller in Seattle that saw the Mercury take care of the Storm to reach the WNBA semifinals, the Chicago Sky went on the road to visit the 3-seed Minnesota Lynx.

Minnesota led by one after the first quarter, but it was all Chicago the rest of the way. Led by Courtney Vandersloot’s 19-5-5 performance, the Sky steadily pulled away from the Lynx to leave little doubt as to the outcome down the stretch.

The exclamation marks on the victory came in the form of a pair of steal-and-scores from Vandersloot, who led the way with a terrific overall effort.

On the other side, Aerial Powers led all scorers with 24 points, while Kayla McBride added 19 and Sylvia Fowles had 17, as that trio did their best to keep Minnesota in the game.

However, the rest of the Lynx roster beyond those three could only cobble together 16 points, and the more balanced attack from the Sky was able to wear them down. Chicago had five in double-figures — Vandersloot with 19, 16 from Kahleah Cooper, 15 from Azura Stevens, 14 from Diamond DeShields, and 11 from Allie Quigley. That kind of offensive balance is going to be critical in a five-game set with the Connecticut Sun coming up in the semifinals, as they draw the WNBA’s top seed for a shot at the Finals — with the other semi now being set as Phoenix vs. Las Vegas.