Kahleah Copper scored 23 points, Candace Parker had double-double and the Chicago Sky beat the Dallas Wings 81-64 in a first-round WNBA playoff game Thursday night at Wintrust Arena.
Parker finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the sixth-seeded Sky, who advance to a second-round game against the third-seeded Minnesota Lynx at 4 p.m. Sunday in Minneapolis.
The seventh-seeded Wings were eliminated. The first two rounds are single elimination, with the league’s top two teams getting a bye into the semifinals, which are best-of-five.
Courtney Vandersloot had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, nine in the fourth quarter after the Wings had cut a 21-point first-half deficit to 55-52 early in the quarter. Allie Quigley added 15 points for the Sky.
Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 22 points and Satou Sabally added 12.
The Sky led by as many as 21 points before settling for a 44-29 halftime advantage. Copper had 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Parker had seven points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.
The Wings charged back in the third quarter, outscoring the Sky 21-11 behind Sabally’s eight points.
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Allisha Gray’s close-range shot early in the fourth quarter cut the deficit to three, and Ogunbowale’s 3-pointer with 4:22 left made it 68-62. But the Wings didn’t get any closer as Vandersloot scored seven points in a 13-1 closing run.