NEWSLETTER
I hope you didn’t let the Chicago Sky’s roster overhaul fool you!
While they may not be the same star-laden squad that took the WNBA by storm the past few seasons, they’ve shown they plan to compete in the early portion of this season. Off to a solid 4-3 start to the year, their most recent loss came by just one point to the league’s newest superteam. And all it took was one day off to write the wrongs of that tight defeat.
Indeed, the New York Liberty sit right behind the defending champion Las Vegas Aces for the title favorites. Why? Well … the franchise added superstars Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones this offseason to pair with budding youngster Sabrina Ionescu. They also have top-tier veterans in Courtney Vandersloot, Stefanie Dolson, and Betnijah Laney (all former Sky!). In other words, they’re terrifyingly stacked. And they reminded the Sky of that as they took a 47-30 lead into the locker room on Sunday.
Down as much as 19 points in the first half, the Sky came out with a vengeance. Kahleah Copper led the way with 19 second-half points and a perfect 4-4 showing from downtown. Marina Mabrey and Courtney Williams added a combined 22 points and 8 assists, while Elizabeth Williams swatted three shots. Chicago completely dominated one of the best teams in the WNBA over the final two frames, outscoring them a startling 56-35 to win 86-82.
The Liberty had 16 total turnovers by the time the final buzzer sounded – nine of which came in the second half. This relentless in-your-face mentality appears to be the Sky’s new MO, as they’ve forced opponents into the most TOVs thus far this season and rank top-3 in defensive rating. We also saw this bully ball mindset pop up on the offensive end last night, as they shot 27 free throw attempts compared to New York’s 14. Mabrey was responsible for 11 of those attempts (knocking down nine).
Oh, and you know what made that win even more insane? The Sky had a jam-packed injury report. The team received the terrible news that defensive stud Rebekah Gardner would undergo foot surgery earlier this week. She will join Isabella Harrison on the sideline, who underwent knee surgery prior to the start of the season. Morgan Bertsch also remained out for yesterday’s game due to her ankle injury, and Dana Evans (who averaged 23.2 points per game ) was ruled unavailable right before tip-off with an illness.
So the fact that the Sky have still been able to get off to this solid start AND claw back against a juggernaut like the Liberty says a lot about the culture James Wade has built. Not to mention, Kahleah Copper is proving early on that she has what it takes to be the true veteran leader this franchise needs. As long as Mabrey can continue to find her footing and look like the young multi-time All-Star the Sky hope she can be, this team could turn into the league’s best story.
Anyway, make sure to check out highlights from the awesome comeback here:
The Sky’s next game is against No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston and the Indiana Fever tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. CT. Full schedule here.
