KEY RUNS

• The Sky opened the first three and half minutes of the game on an 11-0 run.
• Dallas answered toward the end of the first frame with a 20-8 run, ending the first quarter with a one-point lead.
• After two consecutive quarters of back-and-forth play, the Sky opened the 4th quarter on a 9-3 run that put its lead to 7 (74-67).

KEY STATS

• Dallas’ bench outscored Chicago’s 20-0 in the first quarter. It continued its strong performance in the opening half by scoring 33 of the Wings’ 42 points, outscoring the Sky’s bench 33-5.
• The Sky’s starters shot 57.6% (15-26) from the floor in the first half, scoring 38 of the Sky’s 43 points. While the Wings’ initial five posted a 13.3% field goal percentage in the first and second quarter, scoring only nine of the team’s 42 points.
• Chicago’s 44 points in the paint bested Dallas’ total of 26.
• Dallas produced 18 points off turnovers compared to the Sky only recording eight.

CHICAGO NOTES

• WNBA veteran Sydney Colson made her Sky and 2020 season debut tonight.
• Azurá Stevens faced the team that drafted her in Dallas (2018) for the first time since being traded to Chicago in the offseason.
• Stevens posted her 2nd career double-double off a 15-point, 10-rebound outing. It was her 2nd double-double in the last 3 games.
• Cheyenne Parker and Azurá Stevens and Kahleah Copper accounted for 28 of the Sky’s 43 first half points. The aforementioned three players shot a combined 68.8% from the floor (11-16) in the first half.
• The Sky’s starting five had a collective plus-minus of 56 and shot just under 53% (27-51) from the floor.
• Allie Quigley, Stevens and Parker each recorded 15 points, tying for the team-high tonight. It was the third consecutive game where Parker led or tied for the lead in scoring for the Sky.

DALLAS NOTES

• Former Chicago players Astou Ndour and Katie Lou Samuelson played in their first game vs. the Sky since being traded to Dallas in the 2019-20 offseason.
• The Wings’ bench scored all 20 of their points in the first quarter.
• 2020 No. 2 overall pick Satou Sabally remained perfect from the free throw line this season (21-21), going five for five in tonight’s game.
• Arike Ogunbowale recorded at least 20 points for the third time this season and the second consecutive game.

 

POSTGAME QUOTES

SKY GM & HEAD COACH JAMES WADE

On being able to play games this frequently:

“We don’t have a choice. So we’re not going to make excuses. We’re just going to go out. I know it’s gonna be tough. And we’re pulling everything we have Right now we just want to enjoy this win and see how we can get better. Hopefully we can get healthier. It’s one rotation down, you have the 20-plus minute player that’s not in rotation as far as Stephanie [Dolson] is concerned and so that would maybe help us not have to over-exert ourselves as far as players are concerned but we just have to deal with it. We just have to deal with it. This is the card that we’ve been dealt with. We just have to play with it.”

On Sydney Colson:

“Just to have one practice, I thought her five minutes were good. She’s going to get some of my lingo, some of our schemes down and her vocabulary as far as the language that we speak will add on to that and her knowledge of our playbook will probably grow too in the short term. So I thought in five minutes she did well. She held her own, allowed [Courtney] [Vander]Sloot to get some necessary rest and she also allowed our bigs to get some necessary because Gabby [Williams] was able to play the four so it helped us out a lot.”

On Ruthy Hebard:

“In the first half it was tough because she gave up three threes. I want to say two to [Kayla] Thornton and one to Katie Lou [Samuelson]. She was really disappointed. And I got on her but we told her that we were going to go back to her. She was upset and so you saw the passion and the fire that she was playing with to get those rebounds and so we were proud of that. And that was a big moment for us because it gave the team energy.I think it was a turning moment for us as a group and you never would have thought that the rookie would have been responsible for it. But the way that she did stay down on those rebounds, that was something. We want her to keep playing to that. She’s growing and we’re just happy to have her.”

SKY GUARD COURTNEY VANDERSLOOT

On tonight’s game:

“That was another one that we kind of showed a lot of grit I think. We’re not really trying to do this but we end up getting in a lot of close games and I think it speaks a lot that we’ve had four games in one possession and we’re able to pull them out. Obviously we’re going to go back and look at ways we can finish games so they aren’t coming down to one possession. So, we’re going to use this game as another learning lesson, and be ready for the next game.”

On Sydney Colson:

“Oh, it’s been awesome having her back because she just brings a whole new energy. Having another point guard she’s vocal, she’s a vet[aran]. To play point guard her whole career. Her presence is just as felt and known and we need that both on the court and in the locker room. She has just such positive energy so it’s really uplifting for us, somebody that is really professional, too. She’s a pro’s-pro and that’s the kind of players that you want on your team.”

On how they changed the offense in the second half:

“We have a lot of players that can make plays. And we kind of went to a middle pick and roll little bit with a little with a riser and that kind of changed the dynamic of the game. But I think the most important thing was we stopped giving up offensive rebounds. When we get rebounds and we get stops we’re really hard to guard in transition. And that was the turning point where I think we gave up nine in the first half and only one in the second.”

SKY FORWARD CHEYENNE PARKER

On being able to play games this frequently:

“I mean it’s definitely different. It’s definitely a different process like tomorrow we have to condense in taking care of our bodies, doing treatment and then also preparing our minds for the next team that we’ll be facing the following day so it’s definitely an adjustment. And we do have to make some adjustments and some changes to the way we prepare physically. Obviously we don’t want to be on our feet too much tomorrow and we want to make sure we rest and recover well. So we’re figuring it out. I’m glad that we have the staff that we do that has experience and knows what type of treatment we need to do and the type of recovery we need to have.”

On staying motivated:

“We have a really great coach. He lets us know that the target is going to be on our back for the rest of this season and that we can’t rest. We can’t take anything lightly. We can’t sleep on nobody, we have to respect every opponent we play no matter if they’re at the top of the top of the rankings or at the bottom. So I think our mindset is just to make sure that we show up and bring everything you got every game and I think the rest will really speak for itself.”

On her offensive production:

“I think it’s just kind of metamorphosing. I’ve always been a pretty good scorer in the paint and I think this season I’m just improving and getting better at just burying girls. James, [Wade] he just emphasizes me ducking in a lot so he wants me on the block. He wants me to ducking in because he just knows that it works for us, the percentage is up there. But I feel like everybody is leading in scoring right now because it’s such a balance all the way around. I feel like we’re all just playing our role doing our part. So that’s what I’m doing.”

SKY GUARD AZURÁ STEVENS

“I’m always gonna start off with no justice, no peace. Another day that’s gone by without Breonna Taylor’s murders being arrested. So we’re going to keep talking about that, bringing awareness to it.”

On tonight’s game:

“It feels good to get a win all the time but especially tonight is playing against Dallas. I’m glad we were able to get out the win and execute late in the game. I know we’ve been having a lot of like close games but I think we’re only up from here. Ideally we want to be blowing out teams, but we’re learning a lot with these late game situations and we’re coming through. So I think that’s a good positive take away from the game.”

On how she attacked Dallas:

“I think in the first half we didn’t do a great job of that, especially myself. We didn’t do a good job of boxing them out. And that was one of our focuses of the game, but in the second half we definitely turned that around by just getting a body on them and eliminating their second chances. And then I think we’ve did a good job attacking them throughout the game. The guards did a good job of attacking them and Ruthy {Hebard] came in and did really well for us rebounding wise. She always plays solid when she comes in no matter how much she plays. But especially tonight she did a really good job of just coming in and doing a solid job for us, defensively rebounding scoring like she just played really solid. So I think we definitely responded better in the second half, with limiting their second chances and just putting the pressure on them on offense.”