The Chicago Sky dropped their third consecutive game Friday at the Wintrust Arena to the undefeated Connecticut Sun, who improved 4-0 after a dominant 110-72 win.
The Sun outrebounded the Sky 49-24 overall and 18-4 on the offensive glass. The Sun currently rank No. 1 in the WNBA in rebounding at 42.0 per game.
General manager and head coach Amber Stocks said rebounding hurt the team and it was evident in the loss.
“You know I’m a numbers person, anybody who knows me knows that. So, I like to deal with the facts and address them head on, and embrace the numbers so we can learn from them and apply. And all was not gloom and doom. Yes, we gave up 18 offensive rebounds, and yes we had 23 turnovers.”
The Sky welcomed the services of guard Courtney Vandersloot and center Astou Ndour, who both got the start for the Sky. Vandersloot finished with 11 points and a team-high seven assists in 33:05 minutes.
“We can take some positive out of this,” Vandersloot said. “I felt pretty uncomfortable at first. I think I got more comfortable as the game went on, and I kind of expected that. It wasn’t gonna be easy. I wouldn’t expect this. I knew it was going to be at least some learning curve. Cause I’m playing with new players you know, I’ve had two practices, played with a completely different roster 10 days ago.”
Rookie forward Diamond DeShields paced the Sky in scoring with 15 points and shot 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. She has scored in double figures three times this season.
The Sun had five players score in double figures, including Jonquel Jones and Alex Bentley pouring in a team-high 20 points a piece off the bench. The Sun scored over 100 points for the third time this season to help its league-leading pace of 101.0 points a game.
Stocks said she is excited to have the roster at full strength and that the team has a lot of potential.
“We have great scorers, great ball-handlers and great passers,” Stocks said. “Courtney Vandersloot and Jamierra Faulkner are two of the absolute best point guards in pro-basketball, period. And they, you know will take care of the ball and score they can dish it and they can score, so I am not by any means dissuade from staying focused on our objectives and taking one game at a time.”
The team will have a short turnaround as it will host the Las Vegas Aces at 5:00 p.m. CST at Wintrust Arena. Tickets are still available and start as low as $13. To reserve your seat, visit sky.wnba.com/tickets or by calling (866) SKY-WNBA.