Natasha Howard's double-double leads Lynx over Sky

Natasha Howard scored 22 of her 26 points in the first half and pulled down 14 rebounds as the visiting Minnesota Lynx posted a big second quarter then held off a fourth-quarter Chicago Sky surge to win 85-75 on Saturday.

Less than a week after Chicago won 86-79 at Minnesota, Howard helped make sure the Lynx (4-2) got some payback. She made 10 of 12 shots from the field in the first half, scoring 14 in the second quarter, when Minnesota recorded the first seven points to lead 31-22 and outscored the Sky (3-3) 28-16.

Minnesota held a 28-16 paint points advantage during the first half and shot 46.6% from the field en route to a 52-38 halftime lead. Howard registered nine rebounds in the first half as the Lynx owned an overall 54-28 advantage on the glass.

Courtney Willams scored 17, rookie Olivia Miles added 14 and Kayla McBride had 13 for the Lynx, who have won two straight while navigating the early portion of the season without injured superstar Napheesa Collier.

Kamilla Cardoso had 17 points for the Sky, who shot just 31.5% from the field, but made things interesting by scoring 29 points off 24 Minnesota turnovers.

Chicago has lost two straight since losing leading scorer Rickea Jackson to a season-ending knee injury at Minnesota last Sunday.

The Sky trailed 63-47 in the third quarter, but got within six via a 10-0 run. They trailed 68-58 after three quarters before Sydney Taylor's 3 made it 70-67 with 7:50 left in regulation. McBride, though, hit back-to-back 3s and Howard made two free throws for Minnesota to regain control with an 8-0 run.

Chicago scored the first six points of the game, then Minnesota scored the next six. Howard had eight points as the Lynx made 10 of their 19 first-quarter shot attempts to lead 24-22 after the opening 10 minutes.

Returning from a knee injury, veteran Azure Stevens scored six points with three rebounds in 16 minutes of her season debut in a second stint with the Sky.

--Field Level Media