Minnesota Lynx's Bridget Carleton (right) drives at Chicago Sky Dana Evans during first half WNBA preseason basketball action in Toronto on Saturday May 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
TORONTO – Kahleah Copper had 18 points and nine rebounds in leading the Chicago Sky to a 82-74 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday in the WNBA’s first-ever game in Canada.
Kayana Traylor and Robyn Parks combined for 25 points off the bench and Morgan Bertsch added 12 for Chicago.
Tiffany Mitchell had 19 points and six assists for Minnesota. Rachel Banham and Kayla McBride contributed 13 points apiece, respectively.
Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont., had three points and two rebounds in 12 minutes for the Lynx. She received standing ovations when starting lineups were announced and in speaking to the sold-out Scotiabank Arena crowd pre-game.
It was the final pre-season game for both teams as they look ahead to the start of the regular season on May 19.
The two sides will meet that day in Minneapolis, Minn., for their season opener.
Courtney Williams put Chicago on the board first as the Sky jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. However, the Lynx followed with a 9-2 run to knot the game with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Anneli Maley made a buzzer-beating layup – but missed the free throw to follow – that closed out a 10-2 run for Chicago, which held a 19-11 lead after the first.
In the second quarter, the Sky went cold early while the Lynx closed the gap. After Kristine Anigwe pushed Chicago’s lead to 10 just over a minute in, Mitchell scored five points in leading a Lynx 10-0 run to even the game.
Carleton scored her first basket of the game on an open layup with 25 seconds left but the Lynx went into halftime down 37-30.
Banham gave Minnesota its first lead of the game with 5:57 left in the third quarter with a three-pointer. Banham hit another from distance three possessions later as part of a 12-4 Lynx run to take a 49-45 lead.
Minnesota continued applying pressure with Mitchell closing a 9-3 run with a driving layup with one second left to go up 60-54 at the end of three.
The Sky went on an 8-0 run, including two three-pointers from Parks, to take a 65-64 lead and force a Lynx timeout 3:06 into the fourth quarter.
Traylor started heating up shortly after. She hit a three-pointer to put Chicago up 70-67, then another to go up 75-72 after McBride tied the game for Minnesota.
McBride lost the ball from hitting the deck after attempting to grab a rebound and Traylor took the loose ball and hit an open three from distance. After Mitchell made it a four-point game, Bertsch and Copper pushed the Sky’s lead to eight with 1:08 remaining and neither side scored from then on.
INTERNATIONAL
Saturday’s game marked the third pre-season WNBA game to be played outside of the United States, following games in Monterrey, Mexico in 2004 (Detroit Shock vs. San Antonio Silver Stars) and Manchester, England in 2011 (Atlanta Dream vs. Great Britain Women’s National Team).
FAMILIAR FACES
Montreal native and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort was shown courtside during the second quarter, to the pleasure of the crowd.
Also courtside was former Toronto Raptor Serge Ibaka – and member of the 2019 championship team – who was given a deafening standing ovation from the crowd.
Canadian singer Jully Black performed during halftime with a dance crew alongside her.
BROADCAST SQUAD
The game’s broadcast consisted of an all-women, all-Canadian team Saturday, with Meghan McPeak (play-by-play), Amy Audibert (colour commentary) and Nikki Reyes (sideline reporter).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.
