Gabriela Jaquez scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Chicago Sky held on for an 86-79 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night in Minneapolis.
Rachel Banham scored 13 points off the bench for Chicago (3-1), which bounced back from its first loss of the season on Friday against the Phoenix Mercury. Kamilla Cardoso notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Kayla McBride scored 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting for Minnesota (2-2). Courtney Williams and Natasha Howard finished with 17 points apiece.
The victory came at a cost for Chicago. The team’s top scorer, Rickea Jackson, went down as she drove toward the rim midway through the second quarter, and she did not return.
Jackson stepped awkwardly as she planted her left leg during the play in which she was injured. She appeared to favor her left knee as the team’s medical staff attended to her. Jackson, who was averaging 22 points per game, finished with six in 11 minutes of play.
Despite losing Jackson, the Sky maintained their lead throughout the second half.
An 8-0 run in the fourth quarter helped Chicago avoid a comeback attempt by the Lynx. Banham made a 3-pointer to punctuate the run and put the Sky ahead 76-66 with 5:46 remaining.
The Sky built a 63-56 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Sydney Taylor made a pair of free throws to put Chicago ahead by double digits with 1:59 left in the third quarter. The Lynx pulled within six points after a layup by Williams and a tip-in by McBride, and the Sky inched ahead by seven before the buzzer.
Chicago led 40-38 at the half.
McBride drove to the rim for a layup to give Minnesota a 38-37 advantage with 8.8 seconds remaining.
The Sky responded quickly to take the lead. Natasha Cloud fed a pass to Taylor, who drained a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds to go to give Chicago a 40-38 lead heading into the half.
The Lynx led 22-18 at the end of the first quarter. Minnesota scored the final four points of the session on back-to-back layups by McBride and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu.
–Field Level Media
