The Chicago Sky were looking to capitalize off their recent win against the Connecticut Sun as they faced the visiting Washington Mystics.
It ended up being a tale of two games, one Chicago would eventually lose, 79-72.
At first, the Sky were dominating. They outdid the Mystics in the paint, thanks to Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Both were scoring inside and grabbing the boards with sheer relentlessness. The Sky also were protecting the ball on offense and applying ball pressure on defense. Ariel Atkins was facilitating the offense smoothly and making some big shots in the process, while Rebecca Allen and Kia Nurse contributed with a few made baskets here and there. But it was the inside game that put the Sky up 44-32 at the end of the first half.
Then the third quarter happened.
The Mystics took command of the game led by Brittney Sykes, Aaliyah Edwards, Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen. They got off on a 13-4 run to start the quarter. Their defense put pressure on the perimeter and shut down the lane, almost completely denying Reese and Cardoso inside. But more importantly, they took advantage of the Sky’s frequent turnovers, nine in total, which they turned into buckets. The Mystics outscored the Sky in the third quarter, 24-12.
From there, the Sky struggled to bounce back. Even when they mounted a run, they kept turning the ball over.
In the end, the Sky lost 79-72. They turned the ball over 25 times resulting in 40 points the other way. Furthermore, the Mystics dominated in the transition game, outscoring the Sky 20-8 in fastbreak points.
Sykes led the game with 32 points and five assists. Cardoso led the Sky with 18 points and 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the year. Reese finished with her sixth double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, although she did have seven turnovers. In all, the giveaways helped the Sky outscore the Mystics 50-34 in the paint.
After the game, Reese described her tandem with Cardoso as a work in progress, while also highlighting how she needs to improve, sharing:
We kind of took it personal tonight. Obviously, they have three great post players from Shakira to Aaliyah Edwards, so we kind of took it personal tonight to dominate the paint and do that as best as we could, and try to help our guards, because once they clog the paint, we can get shots out on the inside, on the outside. So we try to do that.
I think for me, just try to be consistent and be efficient as best as I can. Obviously, you see there is a night where I’m efficient, and I have like seven turnovers, or I’m not shooting well and no turnovers. So I just got to be consistent throughout. And that’s on me. And I’m gonna continue to try to get better every game
Head coach Tyler Marsh emphasized the importance of Reese and Cardoso developing chemistry, all in the context of looking for wins. He said:
I think it’s important. I think that that cohesion is continuing to grow, especially on the offensive end. I think that they will both tell you that they’re not satisfied with where they are. But there’s approved growth that we’ve seen, but on nights like this, it’s a little bittersweet, because you’re able to see that in the flashes that they have with each other. But also it looks a lot better when it results in a win.
And so that’s the mindset that we have in the locker room. We understand the areas of growth that we’ve had and the areas of improvement that we’ve seen but want that to translate into wins. And so you know, I thought there were a lot of good moments tonight between both Kamilla and Angel. But you know the most important thing is to win, and so we gotta continue to be all on the same page, all five, and really all 11, 12 on the roster.
Ariel Atkins had 10 points and a game-high seven assists. Elizabeth Williams and Michaela Onywenwere came off the bench to put in six points each. Hailey Van Lith, looking fill Courtney Vandersloot’s shoes while she’s out with a season-ending ACL injury, added five points and two defensive rebounds, while also turning the ball over five times. Rebecca Allen, making her transition from the bench to the starting group, finished with seven points, five rebounds and four assists, but she had four turnovers to her name as well.
