After her team had held on to beat Chicago 86-83 Wednesday night at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in a game that probably shouldn't have been as tight as it was, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve went all the way back to the earliest days of training camp to explain her team's latest big win.
She saw it then, she said. A team that, while young, had some toughness. A team that didn't wilt during difficult times in scrimmages, didn't hide when coaches called players out. A team that stuck together.
"I told this team we had that,'' Reeve said. "This team really has a sense of, 'OK, this hasn't gone like we wanted to, but we're going to focus on this.' "
Early in the third period the Lynx were up by 18 points.
But then Chicago charged. The highest-scoring team in the league proceeded to go on a 33-13 run over the next 13 minutes and 4 seconds, to take a 77-75 lead on Allie Quigley's three-pointer with 5:48 left in the game.
Time out.
No panic. Out of a timeout Napheesa Collier passed to Damiris Dantas, who hit her fifth three-pointer of the game (on five tries). After Stephanie Dolson scored for Chicago, the Lynx ran a beautiful pick-and-roll, with Shenise feeding Dantas for the score. Those were the 27th and 28th points of the night for Dantas who, on a night when Collier was a bit off her game, scored a career-high 28 points on 10-for-13 shooting with seven rebounds and three steals as the Lynx improved to 12-5, stayed in fourth place in the WNBA while putting some distance between them and the fifth-place Sky (11-7).
Crystal Dangerfield scored 15 points with seven assists. Collier scored just eight points, but had nine rebounds and five assists. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored 10 off the bench.
During warmups assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson watched Dantas, a 6-3 Brazilian, make shot after shot and predicted a big game. It was the most points ever scored by a foreign-born Lynx player.
"I've had a lot of conversations with coach,'' Dantas said. " '[She said] with Syl (injured center Sylvia Fowles) not here, I need you.' So I'm trying to score more, rebound.''
The Lynx needed it. Courtney Vandersloot (13 points, 12 assists) hammered the Lynx with pick-and-rolls, Allie Quigley scored 23 and reserve Cheyenne Parker 20 points with 15 rebounds. So no lead was safe.
But the Lynx didn't crumble, tightening the defense down the stretch, holding Chicago to four points over the final five minutes. Bridget Carleton's steal turned into a three-point play by Dangerfield with 3:56 left. Dangerfield hit again with 1:09 left for an 85-79 lead. Quigley scored. Moments later Vandersloot made two free throws with 34.4 seconds left for a two-point game. After the Lynx's 16th turnover, Vandersloot ran the pick and roll again. This time Dantas clogged the play, leading to a turnover, ending Chicago's last threat.
"I really can't say enough about how DD played tonight,'' Dangerfield said of Dantas "I think she really was the glue for our team.''
What Reeve saw in her team weeks ago is showing itself in stretch run.
"Any game is a game we want to win,'' Dangerfield said. "But this one is for seeding going into the playoffs. So when you get a win like this, it's big.''
The Star Tribune is not traveling to Florida for NBA and Lynx coverage. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.
