The Chicago Sky suffered their first loss of the season, 81-63, on Wednesday against the Atlanta Dream in their second game at Wintrust Arena. Chicago shot 36.8 percent and went 3- for-14 from behind the 3-point line.
“We were not able to execute some things offensively as well as we would’ve liked,” said General Manager and Head Coach Amber Stocks. “Some shots weren’t falling. Atlanta did a good job of pressuring the ball and denying our passes. Their pressure had our offense extended past typical scoring and execution range.”
The Sky shot 25 percent in the first quarter and were never able to recover from an 11-point deficit after the first 10 minutes. Atlanta won the interior battle with a 40-28 rebounding edge and a whopping 48 points in the paint.
The Dream held Sky leading scorer Allie Quigley to 12 points after averaging 20.2 points per game to begin the season.
Atlanta guard Tiffany Hayes poured in a game-high 22 points and shot 4-for-6 from deep. She has led the Dream in scoring in both of the first two games.
“Tiffany Hayes is a dynamic player,” Stocks said of Hayes. “She’s in the USA Basketball fold for a reason. Tonight she showed what she will show glimpses of throughout the season, which is her ability to be both a perimeter threat as well as an interior scoring threat.”
Veteran guard Alex Montgomery said the team needs to have a short memory after a loss, especially the younger players. “We can’t get too low on a loss,” Montgomery said. “Always stay together and keep our heads up, it’s a long season ahead of us. The game is going to come quick. I know we hate to lose, but we’ve got to keep pushing forward and prepare for the next game.”
The Sky will take on the Seattle Storm at 9:00 p.m. on Friday at KeyArena in Seattle. Chicago’s next home game is at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 1 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.