Harris first Lynx casualty last season and this season

Amber Harris was the only player on the Lynx who missed a game last season because of an injury.. That's remarkable in a WNBA season which has 34 regular-season games plus playoffs.

Harris missed the last two games of the regular season after suffering a concussion at New York on Sept. 4. And now she is expected to miss the first three to six games this year. She has a sprained left ankle.

She injured it in the second half of the Lynx's 87-85 exhibition victory over Connecticut last Thursday. On Sunday, a Lynx news release said Harris, a 6-5 forward from Xavier, will be out two to three weeks.

Too bad. Harris was excited for her second pro season with the Lynx.

As a rookie, she averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds during the regular season in 10.3 minutes per game and her time got cut in half in the playoffs.

"It is going to be fun coming back and get back into things like it was last year," said Harris, during media day on Monday of last week. "[I'm] just trying to pick up from last year and keep going forward."

She said she realizes how difficult it will be for the Lynx to repeat.

"Everybody was real excited about bringing a championship to Minnesota just because it has not happened for a while."

Harris, the No. 4 pick overall in the 2011 draft, said she hopes to contribute more this season.

"[Last year] was an adjustment year for me, getting used to the league and knowing things, having Taj-[McWilliam-Franklin] help me," Harris said. "It is going to be a developing year for me. Hopefully, I can come out and do something different than I did last year."

Ironically, Harris had 12 points and three rebounds -- both season highs -- at New York last year. That was the game she was hurt.

What is she working on? "Just doing the little things," Harris said. "Going out and getting a rebound, get an assist, things like that. ... Offseason, I focused on trying to score more and look for better shot attempts for me and things like that. Hopefully, it carries over."

After the season ended, she played in three games with Besiktas in a Turkish league before signing with Elizur Ramla in Israel. She averaged 9.5 points and 7.1 rebounds and shot 47.1 percent from the field for Elizur Ramla in 19.7 minutes per game.

"Overseas it was a fun experience," Harris said. "Different type of players I played against and different Americans."

It gave her confidence for this WNBA season. Said Harris, "I am going to try to contribute more."

Now she just has to be patient as her ankle heals.

CHICAGO 2-0 IN PRESEASON

The Sky, without 6-6 Sylvia Fowles, beat the New York Liberty 89-57 on Monday in Newark, N.J. Fowles was at the U.S. national team camp in Seattle over the weekend and presumably will rejoin her team in Minneapolis.

Five Sky players scored in double figures, including two of the three starting guards. Epiphanny Prince had 15 points and nine rebounds. Ex-Lynx Shay Murphy had 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

Reserve Carolyn Swards, a 6-6 center, had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Chicago shot 48.6 percent from the field and controlled the boards 43-29. The Sky also made nine of 20 shots from behind the arc.

Last week the Sky beat Washington 73-68.