The Chicago Sky defeated the New York Liberty 90-81 inside Barclays Arena on Thursday night to hand New York its first loss of the season. With the win, the Sky moved to 1-0 against the Eastern Conference, 35-32 against the Liberty all time and finished the season-opening three-game road trip at 2-1.
Marina Mabrey led the Sky in scoring with a season-high 21 points on a season-high three made three-pointers. She also recorded six rebounds and seven assists in the win, leading the Sky in assists for the second straight game. Filling in for Diamond DeShields, Michaela Onyenwere made the first start of her Sky career, scoring a season-high 13 points and five rebounds. Sky rookie Angel Reese scored a career-high 13 points and nine rebounds.
Liberty forward Breanna Stewart finished with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with five assists and four steals, the latter of which tied a season high. Sabrina Ionescu led New York in scoring with 19 points to go along with four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Former Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot ended the game with 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists.
Jonquel Jones passed Asjha Jones (632) for 24th on the WNBA’s all-time offensive rebounds list after ending Thursday’s game with 633 career offensive rebounds
Stewart passed Penny Taylor (1,082) for 25th on the WNBA’s all-time free throws made list with 1,083 after Thursday’s game. Stewart reached 1,000 points in a Liberty uniform.
Reese has 15 offensive rebounds through her first three games in the WNBA, tied for second for most offensive rebounds through one’s first three games all time (tied with Natalie Williams – 15 in 1999, one behind Yolanda Griffith – 16 in 1999) (Across the Timeline)
Reese is the sixth player all time and the first since A’ja Wilson in 2018 to open their rookie season with three straight games of 10+ points and 8+ rebounds (Across the Timeline)
Reese is now averaging 12.0 points per game this season, ranking second among WNBA rookies
The Sky return to Wintrust Arena for their home opener against the Connecticut Sun on Saturday, May 25. The Sky are 32-33 against the Sun all time after going 1-3 against them in 2023. The May 25 game is the first of four matchups between the two teams this season.
The Sun are the last remaining undefeated team in the WNBA at 4-0 after taking down the previously undefeated Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night. Through their first three games, Connecticut is led in scoring by DeWanna Bonner, who averages 21.3 points. DiJonai Carrington averaged 17.0 points through the Sun’s first three games while Alyssa Thomas averages 16.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists, which included the WNBA’s first triple-double of the season in Connecticut’s season opener on May 14.
Photo/ChicagoSky/X
Chicago Sky media relations contributed to this recap
