Lynx-Sky Preview

It's been an inconsistent season for the Chicago Sky, but they've shown improvement since opening 2019 with a lopsided loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

Trying to avenge that defeat, the Sky also look to win back-to-back games Wednesday night when the Lynx come to town eying a third consecutive victory.

Jantel Lavender recorded a season-high 20 points with 10 rebounds and Kahleah Copper scored 16 as Chicago (7-7) snapped a four-game slide with Sunday's 78-66 home win over Dallas.

"That was a good feeling, but we know that we still have some work to do, so I think we just look forward, but we're happy," coach James Wade told the Sky's official website.

Wade knows the challenge that awaits Wednesday expects to be a more difficult one, though Chicago still needed to outscore the Wings' 26-12 in the final period to pull away Sunday. The Sky led 24-22 after one quarter in its season opener against Minnesota (8-6) back on May 25, but was outscored 48-26 over the middle two quarters en route to an 89-71 road defeat.

Nepheesa Collier scored 27 points for the Lynx, the second-most by a rookie in her WNBA debut, while ex-Sky forward Sylvia Fowles added 16 with 10 rebounds in that game. Minnesota also out-rebounded Chicago 46-29 in what proved to be a decisive victory for the hosts.

The Lynx have won four of the last five following a four-game losing streak in June. They made a pretty impressive statement with Saturday's 74-71 win at Connecticut. Odyssey Sims (16.2, points per game) had 21 points while Fowles (14.6 ppg and 9.6 rebounds per game) added 18 with 11 boards as the Lynx outscored the Sun 20-13 in the fourth to end Connecticut's franchise-record 13-game home winning streak.

"We have checklists that we go through every game and whenever we get those, we win the game," Collier, averaging 11.6 points, told the Lynx's official website.

"It's just us locking in on our game plan, knowing what we have to do and executing that."

Sims, who is facing drunk driving charges from incident last month, has averaged 21 points over the last five games. She had 11 on just 4-of-12 shooting against Chicago in May.

The Sky's Diamond DeShields averages a team-leading 14.1 points but has totaled 21 in the last two games and was held scoreless while missing all seven of her field-goal attempts at Minnesota.

Chicago guard Jamierra Faulkner could make her 2019 debut Wednesday following recovery from an ACL injury. Rookie Katie Lou Samuelson may also be back from a wrist injury for the Sky.