GAME HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
● With its second consecutive victory over the Fever, the Sky is now 4-2 in the inaugural WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. Chicago came into today’s game tied for second in the Cup standings with the Atlanta Dream, trailing only the Connecticut Sun. Over the course of the Sky’s next eight games, half will be counted toward the Commissioner’s Cup (Indiana 6/12, Connecticut 6/17, New York 6/22 and Connecticut 6/27).
● The 83-79 win marks the Sky’s ninth victory in its last 11 games against the Fever, including now five straight.
● Candace Parker recorded her 135th career double-double. The veteran scored 20 points and brought in 14 rebounds. She is only behind Sylvia Fowles, Tina Charles and Lisa Leslie on the WNBA’s all-time double-doubles list.
● With just under two minutes remaining, Allie Quigley hit her second three of the game to break the tie and gave Chicago the lead for good. Including the three, Quigley scored the final six points for the Sky and finished with a new season-high 16 points.
● With four assists, Candace Parker passed Dawn Staley and Teresa Weatherspoon to sit 12th all-time in the WNBA in career assists. Parker now has 1341 total assists in her storied career.
● Guard Courtney Vandersloot registered her 950th career WNBA rebound following her third board.
NEXT UP: The Sky (4-7) will face the Minnesota Lynx (3-5) on Tuesday, June 15 at 8:00p CT from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Sky fans can follow the game action on ESPN2. The Lynx host the Los Angeles Sparks tonight at 7:00p CT and will then be off until Tuesday’s game against the Sky. Minnesota is the only team this season that Chicago will not play on three separate occasions.
KEY RUNS
● Chicago finished the last 2:49 of the first half on a 10-3 run to push out to a seven-point lead at the break.
● The Fever opened the first five minutes of the third quarter on a 7-4 run, cutting the Sky’s lead to four.
● With the game tied at 77 and 1:58 remaining, Chicago finished the game on a 6-2 run to win 83-79.
KEY STATS
● The game was tied 15 times, with eight lead changes.
● Sky made eight of its first 12 shots, including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc.
● Chicago shot 60% in the opening quarter. In addition, the Fever shot 70.6% from the field in the first.
● After scoring 38 of its 76 points in the paint on Wednesday, Indiana scored 18 points in the paint in the first quarter. The Fever finished the game outscoring Chicago in the paint 38-34.
● Indiana’s bench outscored the Sky’s 44-25. Its second group only produced nine points in the previous meeting against the Sky.
● Chicago and Indiana combined to score just 28 total points in the third quarter after each scoring at least 22 points in the first and second quarters.
CHICAGO NOTES
● Candace Parker scored seven of the first nine points for Chicago. She finished the game with 20 points and 14 rebounds in her second game back from injury.
● Chicago connected on what was its most for the first quarter this season with five 3-point field goals in the opening frame. It finished the game with eight triples, following a season-high total of nine in its last game against the Fever.
● Stefanie Dolson scored 11 points in the first half. She has scored in double digits in three of her first five games this season.
● The Sky produced 56 points in the first half, which was a season-high through the first two frames.
● For the second consecutive game, every member of the Sky that entered the game scored.
● The Sky won back-to-back games for the first time this season. It is undefeated in 2021 when Candace Parker has been active. Likewise, the team is +34 in point differential with Parker dressed for the game (three games). Today’s victory was the first time this season where the Sky emerged with a win after trailing at the end of the third quarter (the team was previously 0-2).