MINNEAPOLIS โ Minnesota Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve put it plainly after her teamโs 86-79 loss to the Chicago Sky on their home floor back on May 17.
โWeโre just not there in repeating possessions, good possessions, repeatedly doing little things well over and over and over again,โ Reeve said. โWeโre not there yet, especially with our bench. Our bench is learning. Weโve got to get some help with our bench.โ
The loss to the Sky was the first game the Lynx played after losing 21-year-old Czech rookie Emma ฤechovรก for the season to a torn ACL she had suffered in the third game of the year against Dallas. Through two-and-a-half games, ฤechovรก looked to have a way-too-early dark-horse candidacy for all-rookie and sixth player of the year honors.
ฤechovรก scored in double figures in both of her first two WNBA games, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively, on a combined 9-of-13 from the field while averaging 20 minutes per game against Atlanta and Phoenix. One non-contact injury while closing out to the corner later, and ฤechovรก lost the rest of her rookie season, and the Lynx lost their biggest source of bench scoring.
The void left by ฤechovรก was evident in the very next game, as the Sky bench outscored Minnesotaโs 28-10 in a game where Kayla McBride played all but four seconds.
โWeโre just not there yet, so weโre going to continue to spend time with that group,โ Reeve added. โWe told them the honeymoonโs over. Training campโs over, and you made the team, right? That was the big thing. We had a bunch of players on our bench who werenโt sure if they were going to make the team; never played in the W before. So weโve got to help them take a step and show [them] how to belong in this league and how they can help our team.โ
A few short weeks and an eight-game winning streak later, a trio of Lynx players coming off the bench have completely changed their coachโs tune when talking about that group. Maya Caldwell, Antonia Delaere, and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu (commonly known as Ola) are all very different players who have taken different paths to their place on the 2026 Lynx, but as theyโve gotten to know each other over the last number of weeks, theyโve all found ways to help.
โI feel like thatโs how it builds,โ Caldwell said. โGetting more minutes playing together. In practice, getting the reps up, thatโs exactly how you build chemistry. Even when we eat together before and after practice, all of those little moments.โ
Despite a year with the Lynx under her belt, Kosu is the sixth-youngest player in the league at 21 years old.
Caldwell entered the year with 105 games in the W under her belt, with stops in Atlanta and Indiana. She arrived in Minneapolis after Reeve sent a 2028 third-round pick to Portland at the end of training camp, a move that is quietly looking like one of the better acquisitions of the year.
Delaere came in with the most total experience, having played professionally across Europe for more than a decade, but she is still categorized as a 31-year-old rookie navigating life in the W and the United States for the first time.
โTheyโre growing in confidence,โ Reeve said after the teamโs 88-68 win against Seattle on June 6. โI think our assistant coaches deserve a lot of credit as they pour into those players, and the players are working hard. Itโs probably the best group that weโve had on our off days. We call them โget-better days.โ Itโs the best group that weโve had in terms of how theyโre approaching it.โ
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All that isnโt to say Minnesotaโs second unit has found an offensive explosion. The scoring has improved โ up to 18.5 bench points per game in June compared to 15.4 in May โ but it hasnโt gone gangbusters.
Overall, the 16.4 bench points per game on the season are second-to-last in the WNBA, ahead of only the Atlanta Dream (13.7). Last yearโs Lynx team was fourth in the league with 22.8 bench points per game, spearheaded by a pair of sixth player of the year finalists in Natisha Hiedeman and Jessica Shepard.
During their current eight-game winning streak, the Lynx have won in blowout fashion in four of their last five. The continuing strong play of the starting lineup has been a key ingredient, of course, but each game featured multiple stretches when Minnesotaโs bench came in and kept the collective foot on the gas pedal. Those stretches are proof that the work being done on those โget betterโ days is bearing fruit.
โEvery day [that] you can work with the staff we have, the players we have, itโs an opportunity to get better individually, but also as a team,โ Delaere said before Minnesotaโs 100-76 home win against Dallas on June 9. โI think for us as the second group, we take it as an opportunity to connect better because weโre together on the court [a lot]. I think weโre using those days really, really well, and itโs getting better and better when weโre in the games.โ
A moment from Tuesday nightโs blowout win against the Wings that really exemplified the growth came early in the fourth quarter. Despite the score, Reeve and the Lynx were not pleased with the effort in a third quarter that saw Dallas cut the lead, which had grown as high as 27, all the way down to 13.
All three of the aforementioned second-unit players were on the floor to start the fourth. A defensive rebound by Caldwell led to a Natasha Howard layup at the other end, Minnesotaโs first of the quarter. Delaere started to fall back on defense, but sensed an opportunity and pounced on Maddy Siegristโs inbound pass intended for Paige Bueckers. Delaere gained control of the ball in the corner right in front of the Lynx bench, before finding Kosu streaking to the hoop from the other side of the floor for an easy layup.
Just like that, the Lynx led by 19 again, and the game had all but been decided.ย ย ย ย ย ย
โYou have to want to put in the work,โ Lynx assistant coach and member of the organizationโs four championship teams, Rebekkah Brunson, said. โThereโs always going to be players who want to just show up and be good. Theyโre just waiting for the game, and thatโs the most important thing to them. We have a group of players that understand that they have to put the work in first to be prepared for the situation when their name is called.โ
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Caldwell, as the player with the most WNBA experience in the group, found the most consistent minutes early. Delaere has logged double-digit minutes in five consecutive games, and Kosu has done so for four, with both logging season bests in points, rebounds, and assists in the process.
โThey come in ready to listen,โ Brunson added. โThey come in ready to learn, and they compete, and they have a good time. Thatโs special. Especially since weโre in a [time] where everybody wants to see what you did in the game. They want to see your highlight reel. They want to see the finished product. Theyโre not interested in seeing all the minutiae and what it takes to actually be a good player in this league, but they embrace that.โ
Kosu โ the only currently active bench player from last yearโs team โ looks especially comfortable with the additional playing time. On top of getting more comfortable in Reeveโs system, Kosu has grown significantly more confident with her English and is fighting less of a language barrier than she was as a rookie.
โI feel very [good] in the game,โ Kosu said after a recent practice. โIโm just trying to do my best, trying to bring my energy to the game and get my stops โฆ I just do my best trying to help my team, but I feel very [good] and am so excited when I come [in]to the game.โ
Even in her second language, Kosu embodies the energy and enthusiasm-forward nature of a group that played like an afterthought through four games, but has been essential to the success over the last eight that has vaulted the team to the top of the WNBA standings.ย ย
โIโve never been questioned on anything Iโve asked them to do on a get better day,โ Brunson said. โThey approach it with energy. They come in with positive attitudes, and youโre going to start to see that work show itself because of their approach.โ
