Lynx vs. Sky: Natasha Howard's 26 and 14 Carry Minnesota Past Chicago 85-75 Despite 24 Turnovers

Minnesota turned the ball over 24 times on Saturday and watched Chicago score 29 points off those mistakes. In a normal game, that's a one-way ticket to a very long film session. The Lynx won by 10 anyway, because Natasha Howard spent the first half doing whatever she wanted at the rim, and because the Chicago Sky could not get a rebound if you mailed it to them.

Howard finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, the Lynx won the glass by a ridiculous 54-28 margin, and Minnesota beat the Sky 85-75 at Wintrust Arena, getting a measure of payback six days after Chicago won 86-79 in Minneapolis.

Howard's 20-Point Half

The Lynx went ahead for good late in the first quarter and led just 24-22 after one. Then they took the second quarter and made it a problem. Minnesota scored the first seven points of the period, Antonia Delaere's 3 made it 34-24, and although Chicago closed to 34-29, that was the last good news for a while.

Howard scored nine of Minnesota's next 18 points, and the Lynx went into the break up 52-38. She had 14 in the quarter alone and 20 for the half, making 10 of her 12 shots while collecting nine of her rebounds. Minnesota won the period 28-16, and for 20 minutes Chicago's frontcourt looked like it was watching someone else's game on a phone.

Chicago Comes Back, Twice

Credit the Sky, who refused to go away. Minnesota's lead hit 16 at 63-47 late in the third, and that's when Azura Stevens delivered the play of the afternoon. Playing for the first time all season, she turned one defensive trip into a full highlight: the block in the lane, the rebound, and then a 15-footer at the far end. That sequence was the centerpiece of a 10-0 run, and suddenly it was 63-57 late in the period. Minnesota settled down to lead 68-58 going to the fourth, but the door was open.

Chicago walked through it early in the final period. Sydney Taylor's 3 cut the deficit to 70-67, and now the Lynx had a real game on their hands. Enter Kayla McBride, who hit back-to-back 3s, the only two she made all day, as part of an 8-0 run that pushed it to 78-67 by the 5:14 mark.

The Sky made one more push. Kamilla Cardoso scored inside twice, Stevens added a layup off a Skylar Diggins feed, and Cardoso's running layup got Chicago within 81-75 with 2:13 left. But McBride finished a Howard pass at 1:55, and Courtney Williams drilled an 18-foot pull-up with 47.5 seconds to go to put it away.

The Big Line and the Three Guards

Howard's full line was 26 points, 14 rebounds and five assists on 11-of-15 shooting in 33 minutes, with a game-high plus-16. She also had five fouls and three turnovers, which matters less when you're the best player on the floor by a distance.

The backcourt did its part. All three of Minnesota's starting guards came in averaging 15 points a game, according to the AP, and they combined for 44 here. Williams had 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a game where she did a little of everything. Olivia Miles scored 14 with nine rebounds and five assists, though she shot 4-of-14 and had five turnovers. McBride scored 13 with six rebounds and four assists, and she was the only Minnesota starter without a turnover. Nia Brodie added eight points and seven rebounds.

For Chicago, Cardoso was the most effective player, scoring 17 on just six shots and a perfect 9-of-9 at the line, with seven rebounds in 23 minutes. Diggins had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Taylor scored 11 off the bench but needed 12 shots to do it. Stevens, who missed the first five games with a bone bruise in her left knee, finished with six in 16 minutes.

The Sky were also working without leading scorer Rickea Jackson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last Sunday's win over this same Minnesota team.

The Turning Point Was the Glass

Pick your moment: the end of the second quarter, when 34-29 became 52-38, is the stretch Chicago never fully recovered from. But the reason the Sky kept losing ground was simple. They shot 23-of-73, or 32 percent, went 6-of-29 from 3, and then watched most of the misses end up with Minnesota. The Lynx grabbed 41 defensive rebounds, 13 more than Chicago had in total, and then added 13 offensive ones on top of that.

Think about how much had to go right for Chicago to even hang around. The Sky scored 29 points off turnovers to Minnesota's six. They made 23 free throws. They won the fast break 13-6. That's a lot of free money, and it still wasn't enough, because you can't get a second look when the other team owns every rebound in the building.

It also got a little testy along the way, with Minnesota picking up a flagrant and a technical and Chicago getting whistled for two technicals. Nothing about this rematch felt friendly.

The Numbers That Matter Most

• 54-28: The rebounding margin. Read it twice.
• 23-of-73: Chicago from the field.
• 29-6: Points off turnovers, Chicago's way, in a game it lost by 10.
• 42-30: Points in the paint, Minnesota.
• 44: Combined points from Williams, Miles and McBride.

Where Everybody Stands

Minnesota moves to 4-2 and stays unbeaten on the road at 3-0, with two straight wins after Thursday's 100-72 demolition of Toronto. That also squares the season series with Chicago at a game apiece. Atlanta visits on Wednesday.

Chicago falls to 3-3 with two straight losses, following a 99-89 defeat to Dallas. The Sky are 3-1 on the road and 0-2 at home, which is the wrong way around for anyone selling tickets at Wintrust. Toronto comes to town on Wednesday.

Missed the Flight, Still Beat Everyone to the Hotel

Twenty-four turnovers is the travel equivalent of forgetting your passport, missing your connection and losing your bags. Minnesota did all that on Saturday and still got to the hotel first, mostly because Howard knew a shortcut and the Lynx kept every rebound for themselves. Coaches hate this kind of win. The standings don't care.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game context as reported by the Associated Press.