MINNEAPOLIS — The Sky didn’t leave Minnesota with a win, but they didn’t look out of place against the best team in the league.
They hung tough in an 80-75 loss to the Lynx on Sunday night, thanks in large part to guard Rachel Banham. She made six three-pointers, three of them in the second quarter, to keep the Sky afloat.
It was the kind of performance that likely wouldn’t have happened a month ago. But the Sky are growing, and other teams are noticing. Before the game, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said they were playing their best basketball of the season. Afterward, Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he was proud of how his team met every Lynx run with one of its own.
“I thought we kept fighting,” Marsh said.
Their defense was a bright spot. They held the league’s best three-point-shooting team to just 6-for-25 from deep. That’s no small thing for a group that has spent much of the season trying to tighten up its perimeter defense.
“We [told ourselves], let’s not talk about the same thing anymore,” Banham said. “We were talking about turnovers. We were talking about defending the three-point line. Both those things we’ve fixed.”
Over their last three games, the Sky have held opponents to just 32% from three, down from 39% on the season.
That’s real progress. The Sky have just five wins, but they’re no longer crumbling under pressure. A month ago, they looked lost without floor general Courtney Vandersloot and unsure of what to build around. Now, they’re proving they can hang with top-tier teams like the Lynx.
Some of that has come from finding the right rotation, which required a lot of experimenting. Banham has settled in as the starting point guard and brought a needed steadiness.
“I think we’ve found our groove,” she said.
Even so, Sunday felt like a missed opportunity. The Lynx weren’t at their best. Napheesa Collier was mostly contained. Their three-point shooting was cold.
And one late-game miscue from the Sky proved costly. Down four with just over a minute left, they gave up two offensive rebounds on a single possession. Then Lynx guard Kayla McBride made a driving layup that pushed the lead to six.
“We talk about finishing possessions all the time,” Marsh said. “That was just us not doing that, and they made us pay for it.”
One factor outside their control, but that Marsh gave a gentle nudge about, was the officiating. The Sky shot just eight free throws compared to the Lynx’s 17. Marsh pointed to a larger trend: the Sky rank third in the league in points in the paint by percentage, but only 10th in free throws attempted.
He said his post players are taking a lot of contact and implied they’re not getting the calls.
Sky forward Angel Reese, who finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds, was more explicit.
“It’s frustrating because I know how hard we’re battling inside,” she said. “That has to be fixed. I don’t give a damn if I get fined. I’ve been nice and I’ve been humble, but I’m tired of it.”
Even with the loss, the overall direction for the Sky feels clearer. And Reese thinks the team is building an identity around resilience.
“From the beginning of the season to now, we’ve had injuries, different rotations, and everybody has adjusted and stepped up,” Reese said. “We’re gradually taking steps forward that we can be proud of.”
And help is on the way. Starting center Kamilla Cardoso will return this week after a dominant run with Brazil at the FIBA AmeriCup.
