The Chicago Sky held off a second-half surge by the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Saturday afternoon, and a 27-point performance by Ariel Atkins led the home squad to an 87-81 victory over the top team in the WNBA standings.

In her second game back from injury, and first back in the starting lineup, Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso had 17 points and 15 rebounds while fellow big Angel Reese scored 19 points with 11 rebounds for the forward’s eighth double-double in a row.

The victory for the Sky (7-13) is their win over a team with a record above .500 in the 2025 regular season.

With 42.2 seconds remaining, Rachel Banham put the game out of reach for Chicago. While Minnesota (18-4) focused its defense on Cardoso and Reese, Banham exploited space inside and hit a running layup that put the Sky ahead by five points.

On the subsequent possession, Minnesota guard Courtney Williams went up for a 3-pointer on a defensive switch, but the 6-foot-7 Cardoso blocked the 5-foot-8 guard’s attempt and gave possession back to the Sky.

The Sky used their size throughout the game and outrebounded the Lynx 45-28 while scoring 16 more points in the paint.

Chicago led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but Minnesota trimmed it down to a six-point deficit at the end of the quarter. The Lynx cut it to a single possession when Napheesa Collier nailed an 11-foot jump shot a minute into the fourth.

Collier led the Lynx with 26 points, Kayla McBride scored 17, and Courtney Williams added 13. They were the only players on the Lynx roster to hit double digits in scoring while Minnesota’s bench combined for just 11 points.

Contributing to their trouble, the Lynx endured their third road game in four days and their seventh in 12 days to start July.

The two teams play in Chicago again on Monday night, the third game between the two teams in eight days.

–Field Level Media