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.