On her first possession in a Lynx jersey in a WNBA game — albeit a preseason one — new Minnesota guard Courtney Williams dribbled to her spot, elevated …
Lynx newcomer Courtney Williams shows her stuff in preseason victory
Courtney Williams scored nine of Minnesota’s first 13 points Friday night vs. Chicago. She finished with 17 points and five assists in 22 minutes as the Lynx won 92-81.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 4, 2024 at 4:03AM
… and passed the ball.
Moments later Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve chastised her newest point guard. After the game Reeve joked she threatened Williams with a fine.
“I got cussed out,” Williams said. “I was, ‘All right, let me shoot the ball.’”
Welcome to Minnesota.
In a 92-81 victory over Chicago in the 2024 preseason opener Friday at Target Center, Williams scored nine of Minnesota’s first 13 points as the Lynx raced out to an 11-point lead. She made seven of 11 shots on the night, one of two three-pointers, and had five assists and three steals.
The way she worked with Lynx star Napheesa Collier (17 points on 7-for-9 shooting) belied the fact they’d only had one practice together while at the same time hinting at what’s possible going forward.
“Add [Kayla McBride] to that mix, too,” said Reeve about the one starter who, recovering from food poisoning, didn’t play. “I can’t say enough in terms of the chemistry of those two. It’s going to be easy for them, because they’re such good players, selfless.”
All this is so encouraging because it’s all so brand new. Collier, McBride and Bridget Carleton (12 points) were all given time off after returning from playing in Europe. Collier and Williams had their first practice together Thursday.
“It was really fun,” Collier said. “The energy you saw has been going on all through training camp. Great first game for us, a great starting point.”
Williams and Natisha Hiedeman (eight points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals) started in the backcourt, along with Collier, Alanna Smith and Diamond Miller. And while it’s not the end-all of stats, all five starters were a plus-13 or better.
The bench? It struggled early, but found its footing late, putting the game away in the fourth quarter with the starters sitting. Carleton hit three of four three-pointers, Camryn Taylor had eight points and Taylor Soule brought her usual energy.
The crowd was smaller than the announced 7,010, but still impressive for a preseason game. And the heightened interest in the team and the league — it was the debut game of Chicago rookies Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese (13 points, nine rebounds) — can be found in this interesting stat:
Though the game was not officially televised, a fan in the stands with the handle @heyheyitsalli, live-streamed the game on X, formerly known as Twitter. The tweet had more than 220,000 views.
Reeve was not surprised. “The growth in interest in this game is happening so fast, it’s so accelerated,” she said. “I’ve been saying this in our own organization. Business as usual won’t work any more.”
On the court, though, business was good.
The bigger Sky did outrebound the Lynx 33-28. But the Lynx had the edge both in points in the paint and second-chance points.
The Lynx shot 52.9%, scored 20 points off Chicago turnovers and never trailed. When McBride returns, Hiedeman will likely lead the second unit, though don’t be surprised if McBride, Hiedeman and Williams are on the court together a lot. When Dorka Juhász returns from Europe, there will be more depth in the post. Ditto for Cecilia Zandalasini on the wing.
“We have a really coachable group,” Collier said. “We’re all working towards the same goal. There aren’t a lot of egos. Going in we were asking the guards, ‘What do you like, where do you want the ball?’ and they were asking the same thing.”
More reps should only make it better.
“We’re going to continue to build chemistry,” Williams said. “It’s going to be hard to guard us.”
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