TONIGHT’S GAME HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

● The Sky played in its 500th game as a franchise, picking up its 226th victory over 15 fullseasons in the WNBA.

● The win marks the first time the Sky has won its first two games in back-to-back seasons since2013-2014.

● In just her seventh career start, Ruthy Hebard recorded her second career double-double.

● Despite missing two starters from the season opener against the Washington Mystics, the Skyemerged victorious with rookies Stephanie Watts and Natasha Mack filling in for Chicago.

● Astou Ndour-Fall started in a Sky uniform for the first time since Sept. 8, 2019, when the Sky played the Washington Mystics. The Spanish national recorded a double-double tonight, scoring 14 points and collecting a career-high 11 rebounds.

● Ruthy Hebard and Astou Ndour-Fall’s point, rebound and block stats mark the first time in Skyhistory (5th time in WNBA history) that two teammates have each had 15+ points/10+ rebounds/3+ blocks in the same game.

NEXT UP: The Sky (2-0) returns to Chicago to host the undefeated New York Liberty (3-0) at 12:00p CT on Sunday, May 23. The game will be televised on ESPN and is the first regular season game for the Sky at Wintrust Arena since Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019 (630 days). The Liberty recently defeated the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, May 18 where WNBA sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu became the youngest player in WNBA history to record a triple-double.

 

KEY RUNS

● Sky opened the first quarter with a 7-0 run.

● Sky went on a 12-0 run from the 25-15 mark in the second quarter.

● Dream went on an 11-4 run in the second quarter.

● Atlanta opened the second half on an 8-2 run to cut the Sky’s lead to 14.

● Chicago’s 7-0 third quarter run brought the lead back to 20.

● Atlanta cut the deficit to 10 after going on a 10-2 run to end the third quarter.

● Atlanta’s 16-6 run in the fourth quarter brought Chicago’s lead to just one.

KEY STATS

● The Sky forced three turnovers within Atlanta’s first four possessions, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.

● Chicago forced seven turnovers during the first quarter while limiting the Dream to just 29.4% shooting in the opening frame.

● Sky produced 28 of its 46 points from within the paint in the first half.

● For the second straight game, the Sky limited its opponent to 26 points in the first half, which is well below the opponent low for the first half from 2020 (34 vs. IND on 8/22).

● The Sky’s starting five produced a collective plus-minus of +102 during the first half, with four of its five starters producing a plus-minus of at least +20. The initial five scored 79 of the team’s 85 points.

CHICAGO NOTES

● The Sky has led for 72 of a possible 80 minutes of regulation time this season. It did not trail in tonight’s game.

● The 133 opponent points scored between the Washington Mystics and the Atlanta Dream through the Sky’s first two games is the lowest total in the first two games of the season in Sky franchise history. The previous low was 136 in 2014.

● Sky rookie forward Natasha Mack made her WNBA debut and scored her first basket in the second quarter to extend the Sky’s lead to 20 points.

● Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot, and Ruthy Hebard notched 24 of the Sky’s first 27 points.

● Ruthy Hebard reached a career-high three blocks.

● Sinking a three-point shot with 7:17 to go in the second quarter, Astou Ndour-Fall reached the 500 career points milestone.

● With Ruthy Hebard and Astou Ndour-Fall’s 10 and 11 respective rebounds, this marked the first game two Sky players had at least 10+ rebounds since Azurá Stevens (11) & Cheyenne Parker (10), at Minnesota, July 30, 2020.

ATLANTA NOTES

● Dream guard Tiffany Hayes made her return to Atlanta after missing the 2020 season last year. The 2018 First Team All-WNBA member scored five points and added three steals.

● The game was the Dream’s first at Gateway Center, having made the move away from State Farm Arena in late 2019.

● The Dream outscored the Sky 51-39 in the second half.

● Chennedy Carter and Courtney Williams combined for 45 of Atlanta’s 77 points

● The Dream finished the game 12 of 24 from the free-throw line. They become the 19th team in WNBA history and the first since 2009 to shoot 50% or worse on 24 or more free throws.

 

SKY GENERAL MANAGER & HEAD COACH JAMES WADE

On grinding out a scrappy win.

“I think it gives the young ones the experience. Sometimes, in moments like those, you can lean on veterans. The fact that we had so many veterans that didn’t play tonight, and showing that they can

win, it definitely gained the coaching staff’s trust. So, I think it’s good all around. We have some things that we didn’t do well, and we have to correct. But, it’s better to correct for us after a win than to correct after a loss so we’ll learn.”

On Ruthy Hebard stepping in for Candace Parker.

“The sky is the ceiling for her…she had a great game. We were so happy when she got off the plane from Turkey, and now she’s here with us, and she’s doing good things. She’s great to coach. You can see it on the floor with her energy and her enthusiasm and what she brings to the game. She’s very coachable, so we just appreciate her game.”

SKY FORWARD RUTHY HEBARD

On Coach Wade’s expectations of her.

“He’s really hard on me and I think that’s what makes me just want to get better. I want to be able to contribute more and more, because I know he knows my potential. I just want to get there eventually.”

On what the team will learn from this game.

“I think we’re going to take away from this game that we’re fighters and we have a really good team from the starters down to the bench and if someone falls we’re gonna pick them up.”

SKY CENTER/FORWARD ASTOU NDOUR-FALL

On powering through late moments in the game.

“Just to be solid and be confident because we know what we’re going to face and what we’re going to do. Just stay together and stay positive and do your little thing.”

On the late game breakdown.

“We know what kind of team they are and the way they play and what kind of player(s) they have. So, just to stay focused and do our thing the right way.”

SKY GUARD/FORWARD KAHLEAH COPPER

On her chemistry with Diamond DeShields.

“I think we’re doing a great job of just reading each other. We’ve just been having conversations about finding each other a little bit better, because we know in most games we’re gonna draw two defenders so we’re focused on really trying to find each other especially in transitions and on drives.”

On the team filling in the gaps even though missing key players.

“Astou told us in the huddle before the game: Although we are down players, we have enough right here in our circle. We believed in that and we just came out and showed our depth”