The Chicago Sky fell to the Atlanta Dream, 80-89, in Commissioner’s Cup play at Wintrust Arena on Saturday, June 8. With the loss, the Sky fell to 4-6 on the season, 2-4 against the Eastern Conference, 1-4 at home, 1-3 in Commissioner’s Cup games, and 38-26 against Atlanta all time.
The Sky committed 21 turnovers, allowing 26 points off those turnovers.
The Sky had seven players go for seven or more points as the Sky erased what was once an 18-point Dream lead to battle back into the game. Sky rookies Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese led the team in scoring alongside Dana Evans, with all three players recording 13 points.
Reese is the fourth Sky player to have three or more consecutive double-doubles in franchise history. Sylvia Fowles did so 12 times, Elena Delle Donne did so twice and Candace Parker did so once.
WNBA AND WILSON UNVEIL OFFICIAL GAME BALL OF COMMISSIONER’S CUP
Reese is the third rookie all time with 13+ points, 13+ rebounds and 5+ steals in a game, joining Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker (Across the Timeline).
Saturday’s game marked Cardoso’s first career start and her 13 points were a career high. Reese pulled down 13 rebounds, matching her career high to give her a third straight double-double, and recorded a career-high-tying five steals as well.
Marina Mabrey scored 12 points, Isabelle Harrison contributed seven points and Diamond DeShields recorded eight points and three assists. Lindsay Allen tied her season high for points in a game with eight.
The Dream were led in scoring by Tina Charles, who set a season high with 22 points while also leading Atlanta in rebounds with seven. Rhyne Howard scored 22 points and recorded a career-high 10 assists, while Allisha Gray (14) and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (18) also scored in the double-digits for the Dream.
The Dream recorded a season-high 14 steals.
Reese and Rhyne Howard both recorded double-doubles and five steals apiece, becoming the first set of players to do so in WNBA history (Across the Timeline).
Saturday’s game marked Tina Charles’ 400th career WNBA game.
With her nine made free throws, Charles (1,238) passed Yolanda Griffith (1,232) for 15th on the WNBA’s all-time free throws list.
The Sky face off against the Connecticut Sun at home on Wednesday, June 12 in their fifth and final Commissioner’s Cup game. The Sun are 9-1 after their 82-75 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday afternoon, their first of the season. The Sky are 0-1 against the Sun this season after an 82-86 loss on May 25 at Wintrust Arena and are 37-39 against them all-time (including postseason), with a 32-34 record in the regular season and a 5-5 postseason record.
Through their first 10 games of the season, the Sun have been led by two-time WNBA champion and five-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner, who averages a team-high 18.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Four-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas leads the Sun in both rebounds (9.6) and assists (8.6) along with her 12.7 points per game.
Rounding out the rest of Connecticut’s double-digit scorers are two-time All-Star Brionna Jones (13.3), DiJonai Carrington (11.9) and Tyasha Harris (10.7).
The game tips off at 7 p.m. CST on Wednesday, June 12 and will be available on WMEU and Marquee Plus.
Photo/ChicagoSky/X
Chicago Sky media relations contributed to this recap
