Sims Steps Up Late to Lead Lynx Over Sky

(image credit: screenshot from WNBA on YouTube)

With under a minute to play on Wednesday night in Chicago, the Minnesota Lynx appeared to be on the verge of blowing a 13-point lead in the second half to fall on the road in the middle of a three-game road trip.

That was until Odyssey Sims decided to take the game over.

With 11.2 seconds remaining and the Lynx down one, Sims hit a jumper in the lane to give Minnesota the lead late and help Minnesota come away with a 73-72 victory over the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena.

With the win, the Lynx improved to 9-6 overall on the season, extending their winning streak to three in a row and having now won five of their last six games.

Along with the victory, Minnesota moves into a tie with the Connecticut Sun (9-6) for the No. 3 seed in the WNBA standings, trailing the first-place Las Vegas Aces (10-5) by one game.

To open up the game on Wednesday, Minnesota was able to jump out to an early lead over Chicago. After going off on a 14-5 run to start the first quarter, the Lynx held an 18-12 advantage heading into the second quarter while putting on a stellar defensive performance in the opening 10 minutes.

To wrap up the first half, Chicago was able to dig into Minnesota’s lead, narrowing things down to a three-point game with a few minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Lynx ultimately went on a run to end the frame to carry a 40-32 advantage into the break.

Asia Taylor provided a nice spark off the bench in the second quarter for the Lynx, who shot 41 percent from the field. Taylor tallied nine of her career-high 13 points in the quarter, standing out on both ends of the floor.

Coming out of halftime, the Sky made things interesting thanks to a big 14-2 run spanning over the final few minutes of the third quarter. That run lifted Chicago to hold a 23-16 advantage in the quarter, heading into the final period trailing just 56-55.

Following an Allie Quigley 3-pointer that put Chicago out in front late in the fourth quarter, Minnesota was able to respond before time ran out, ultimately holding off Chicago to come away with the win.

Sims paced the way for the Lynx with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Taylor added two rebounds and two assists to go along with her career-high 13 points, while Napheesa Collier finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals, Sylvia Fowles tallied 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks and Danielle Robinson finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Minnesota, which shot 37.2 percent from the field, outrebounded Chicago 43-38 in the game.

Quigley did it all for the Sky to lead the way, making a total of six three’s to finish with a game-best 24 points and four rebounds. Diamond DeShields added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Gabby Williams had 12 points and five assists off the bench for Chicago, which was held to 37 percent shooting in the loss.

It wasn’t a pretty win for Minnesota, which struggled on offense at times throughout the game and had a large lead once again slip away in the second half.

But the Lynx managed to come away with the victory in the end. And their newest addition this season in Sims was a big reason why.

Minnesota will wrap up a three-game road trip on Friday when it travels to face that Atlanta Dream at 6:30 p.m. at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

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