Number one in the West, number one in the East. Both teams came in with headlines of being undefeated, one team left with the headline that mattered. A win. The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Chicago Sky 75-72 to remain the last unbeaten team in the young WNBA season. Maya Moore came in averaging a league best nearly 34 points per game, but it was Lindsay Whalen who led the Lynx with 22 points in the win.
Maya Moore came in scoring 30 plus points in four straight games; she is the first in the WNBA to accomplish that. Epiphanny Prince who did not play in her fifth straight game was the first to accomplish 30 points in three straight games. Moore showed her defensive prowess at times guarding Elena Delle Donne. The Rookie of the Year who is deadly at the free throw line did not see the charity stripe the entire game. “I can’t remember the last time I did not shoot a free throw in the game, next time I have to be more aggressive and get to the rim,” Delle Donne stated. She launched an off-balance three-point try as time expired, but the potential game-tying shot missed. Delle Donne finished with a season-low 16 points. “They do have a lot of heads to the snake,” Delle Donne stated regarding the Lynx’s squad and they hit the Sky with a venom.
Tan White came off the bench contributing back-to-back scores to give the Lynx a 67-65 lead they never gave up in the final period. White finished with 10 points. Seimone Augustus contributed 17 for the Lynx. Minnesota came in playing its third road game in the first five games of the season along with playing a back-to-back before taking a day off to face the Sky. “Its baffling to me that the defending champions would start on the road, we don’t feel sorry for ourselves and we prepare our bodies,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve stated. The Lynx host San Antonio on Friday in the first of a home-and-home series that continues next Sunday.
The Sky were also still missing Sylvia Fowles, who is sidelined while recovering from a hip injury. Jessica Breland added 16 points while Allie Quigley off the bench added a career-high 15 points in the loss. The Sky continue a five-game homestand on Friday against Connecticut.
