Reese’s streak ends as Sky fall to Liberty

The Chicago Sky (9-14) started strong against the New York Liberty (20-4), jumping out to a 10-3 lead. The home team was shooting the ball extremely well, particularly from the 3-point line. They also were crashing the boards and stifling the Liberty at the perimeter.

The Sky seemed poised for a potential victory. Until the second quarter.

The Liberty, who were without reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, would go on to outscore the Sky 29-13 in the second period to take a 43-34 lead at the half. The sharp shooting of Sabrina Ionescu (28 points, six assists, three rebounds), post play of Jonquel Jones (14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists), 3-point shooting of Leonie Fiebich (13 points, three 3-pointers) and high-field goal percentage of Ivana Dojkic (12 points, 80 percent shooting) was hard to contend with. Chicago looked fatigued and out of sorts after a fast start. The Sky also experienced some uncanniness on the part of some of their top talent. Most notably from Chennedy Carter. She didn’t play the entire third quarter and she didn’t score until the midway point of the fourth quarter.

After clawing their way back in the third quarter, the Sky seemed poised for a comeback. The 3-point shooting of Marina Mabrey, dynamic duo of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso in the paint and the unexpected heroics of bench player Michaela Onyenwere were doing wonders.

However fatigue, defensive struggles in transition, turnovers and some questionable officiating led to their demise towards the end.

The most notable moment involved Reese, as she was poised to extend her record 15-game double-double streak. At the 2:02 minute mark, Reese, who had 8 points and over 10 rebounds, went for the putback shot before she was apparently blocked from behind by Jonquel Jones. The instant replay clearly showed a foul, but, much to the dismay of the hometown crowd, it wasn’t called. Her consecutive double-double streak ended with eight points and 16 rebounds.

The Sky had some other notable performances:

Marina Mabrey

She came away with her own double-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Mabrey also went 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from the 3-point line.

The Sky have one of the lowest 3-point percentages in the league (31.4 percent). As the team looks ahead to the second half of the season, Mabrey noted that more perimeter shooting from other players is in the cards. She shared:

I’m a big advocate for 3s. I thought it was great Mic (Onyenwere) came in and hit some 3s, Dana (Evans) hit a 3. Also people just willing to take them and keep practicing them, especially our younger players who aren’t used to taking as many jump shots. You know, they have a ton of time to develop in this league. You know, if you work on your shot, you’re going to get to make it and drive the defense out.

Michaela Onyenwere

Coming off the bench to provide some relief for Carter, Onyenwere put on an incredible show. She hit some big shots as she finished with 14 points, as well as two rebounds. She went 6-for-7 (85.6 percent) from the field and went 2-for-2 from the 3-point line.

Kamilla Cardoso

Matched up against Jones in the paint, Cardoso was able to hold her own. She got good looks inside and crashed the boards, resulting in six points and five rebounds. After the game, head coach Teresa Weatherspoon noted that she was satisfied with Cardoso’s offensive involvement, saying:

I was happy to see the ball going in allowing our bigs to touch it. Kamila is always able to make her own corrections and she does it very well. Obviously, it was good to see her touching the ball being as aggressive as she could around the rim. I won’t go any further than that because I think she is very aggressive down there.

Lindsay Allen

The veteran starting point guard was able to engage in some effective playmaking. Along the way, she was able to make some critical shots as she finished with eight points and four assists.

The Chicago Sky (9-14) will play the Las Vegas Aces (15-7) on July 16 at 10 p.m. ET.