LOS ANGELES SPARKS vs. CHICAGO SKY
WINTRUST ARENA | 2022 WNBA SEASON OPENER | MAY 6, 2022
| TEAM | HIGH POINTS | HIGH ASSISTS | HIGH REBOUNDS |
| CHI | EVANS (24) | VANDERSLOOT (8) | MEESSEMAN (8) |
| LAS | CANADA (21) | CANADA (8) | N. OGWUMIKE (7) |
TONIGHT’S GAME HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
- The Sky played its first season-opener at home since 2016
- Tonight was a career-high night for guard Dana Evans, who led the Sky with 23 points, five assists and three steals — 17 of her 23 points came from the third quarter on 7-for-8 shooting
- Sparks’ Jordin Canada sank three free-throws with 1.5 seconds to tie the game, 88-88, with 1.5 seconds left in regulation
KEY RUNS
- Sparks scored the first bucket of the game, but the Sky answered with a 12-0 run. Candace Parker scored or assisted on all 12 points
- Sparks bounced back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two, 12-10, with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
- Neither team could go on a significant run for the rest of the first half as no team led by more than four points
- Sparks open the second half outscoring the Sky 5-1 to take their biggest lead of the game, 47-40
- The Sky answered with 17-4 run at the 5:10 mark of the 3rd quarter to retake the lead, 57-51
- Sparks re-took the lead, 76-75, with 5:28 left, but the Sky answered with a 6-0 run to take an 81-76 lead with 3:48 left in the final frame
- Between overtime and Canada’s three free throws in regulation, the Sparks outscored the Sky 13-3 in the final 5:01 of the game
KEY STATS
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- Azurá Stevens scored 11 points in the first half, more than her 9.0 full game average as a starter in 2021.
- Sparks’ Liz Cambage picked up two fouls in the first 3 minutes of the game.
- Courtney Vandersloot picked up her fourth foul with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
- Dana Evans recorded a career high in assists (5), and 3-pointers made (2), and set career highs in steals (3) and minutes (25), new career high in points (23)
- Dana Evans scored 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the third quarter
- The Sparks were second to the last in the league last season in FTA (15.6), but were 23-29 from the free throw line in this game. while the Sky were 12-15.
- After ranking 5th last season in most turnovers, the Sky committed 23 turnovers.
- After having an A/TO ratio of 2.87 last season, Courtney Vandersloot had 8 turnovers to 8 assists. She only had 3 games with an assist to turnover ratio below one last season.
CHICAGO NOTES
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- Candace Parker scored or assisted on the first 14 Sky points
- Emma Meesseman scored her points with the Sky on a jumper at the 3:29 mark of the first quarter
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- Sparkle Taylor scored her first points in the WNBA with a jumper at the 9:16 mark of the second quarter
- Candace Parker passed Tanisha Wright for 10th all-time in assists with her second assist of the game on a pass to a Azurá Stevens lay-up with 6:34 left in the first quarter
- Candace Parker passed Shannon Johnson for 9th all-time in assists on her third assist of the game: another pass for an Azurá Stevens layup at the 7:00 mark of the second quarter
- With a three at the 8:03 mark of the third quarter, Candace Parker became the 2nd WNBA player in history with 6,000 career points, 3,000 career rebounds and 1,400 career assists (Tamika Catchings with 7380/3315/1488)
- With the same three, Parker has now scored in double figures in 306 games — 11th all-time. Parker needs three more double figure scoring games to move into 9th place ahead of Katie Smith
- Anneli Maley scored her first points in the WNBA with 4:25 left in the fourth quarter
LOS ANGELES NOTES
- Rae Burrell scored her first points in the WNBA with two free throws at the 1:59 mark of the first quarter
- Sparks took their first lead of the game, 30-29, on a Brittany Sykes layup with 6:05 remaining in the second quarter
- Liz Cambage scored her first point with the Sparks on a free throw at the 1:54 mark of the second quarter
- The Sparks took a 76-75 lead with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter from a Brittany Sykes made jump shot
- Lexie Brown scored 12 points off the bench, twice as much as her season-high with the Sky last season.
NEXT UP:
The Sky will stay at home next week at Wintrust Arena against the New York Liberty. The Liberty snuck into the 2021 WNBA Playoffs as the No. 8 seed on the last day of the regular season, finishing with a 12-20 record. Head Coach Sandy Brondello will make her season debut with the Liberty, after six years with the Phoenix Mercury
WATCH, LISTEN, OR DOWNLOAD FULL POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY:
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Kelly Kane | Director of Public Relations | kkane@chicagosky.net | 312-925-9559 |
Carly Ebisuya | Public Relations Coordinator | cebisuya@chicagosky.net | 714-305-6808 |
Daily practice photos, b-roll, and additional assets can be found on NBA Content Network.
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