CHICAGO SKY (1-1) vs. SEATTLE STORM (2-2) WINTRUST ARENA | JUNE 1, 2019

SKY NOTES
● Allie Quigley contributed 13 of the Sky’s 28 first quarter points and lead all first-half players with 15 points.
● The Sky shot nearly 60% from the field during the first half.
● Both Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields surpassed the 20-point mark, the first time a Sky player has done so this season.
● Courtney Vandersloot recorded 10+ assists for the 34th time in her career, the third-most 10-assist games in WNBA history.
● After playing nearly 18 minutes in last week’s game against the Lynx, Katie Lou Samuelson did not enter the game against the Storm.
● This is the Sky’s first win against the Storm since moving to Wintrust Arena.

STORM NOTES
● After being down nine points, the Storm closed the first half on a 12-6 run over the final 4:26 to cut the lead to two, 48-46.
● With under two minutes remaining in the game, the Storm took first lead since the first quarter.
● The Storm committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, 13 total in the game.
● Seattle were held to under 40% shooting, and shot just 21% from beyond the arc.
● The Storm had 14 steals in the game, with eight coming in the fourth quarter.
● The Storm missed two shots, one from Sami Whitcomb and one from Natasha Howard, in the final 15 seconds of the game.

POSTGAME QUOTES

SKY HEAD COACH AND GENERAL MANAGER JAMES WADE
On having a player like Vandersloot down the stretch:
“She’s our floor general, so she puts us in the positions to be successful. I have two players beside me (DeShields and Quigley) who can tell you that she makes their job easier…so when you have a player like that, a player who is thinking like you on the floor, it says a lot and everybody doesn’t have that luxury so we appreciate what we have.”

On why Katie Lou Samuelson didn’t play:
“It’s hard for rookies to come in this league and play right away. We needed our experienced players to step up and that’s what they did and I think she learned a lot just by watching what our players did tonight. It was nothing against her, we just went with the flow of the game and went with the players that were playing well and when it came down to the time to score in situations, I tend to lean on experience and that’s what I did.”

SKY GUARD ALLIE QUIGLEY
On the difference the crowd made in the game:
“It was huge. We were kind of hearing that all day long that it was going to be packed, and that’s when you start really feeling that energy and we don’t want to let them down so we tried to put on a good show for them and it definitely helped us, especially down the stretch at the very end. They were really loud and behind us.”

SKY FORWARD DIAMOND DESHIELDS
On the difference between the first and second games:
“I felt confident last week, I felt really good going into that game, but it kind of threw off my rhythm those two early fouls. I knew I was going to have a better game tonight, we had a great crowd, it’s always great to play at home, my teammates were fired up so it gave me that extra boost, and doing the things I know I can do.”

STORM INTERIM HEAD COACH GARY KLOPPENBURG
On the Sky having a week to prepare for the matchup:
“I think they had time to get better from their first game and I think they looked a lot better. They were a lot more together offensively and better defensively, in our league you don’t get a lot of practice time and when you get it a coach can really maximize it and can get his team ready to go.”

On his team’s fight and ability to come back multiple times:
“I was really proud of the way we just kept battling and scaping to come back into this game. We played last night and flew in so I know there was a lot of fatigue but we really gave ourselves a chance to win and we were up a couple times late in the game we just needed a couple more stops and maybe it’s a different ball game.”

On internalizing tonight’s loss to prepare for Tuesday’s matchup vs. Minnesota:
“We’re gonna be in a lot of these types of games so we need to learn how to finish crunch time plays whether it’s one stop or one basket we’ve gotta execute. That message is what we’ve gotta take going forward as the games start to come faster and we hit the road again.”

STORM GUARD JEWELL LOYD
On returning to her hometown to play the Sky:
“Chicago’s always nice to come back to. To see familiar faces in the stands is great and it’s always special playing here so it’s always a good time when I’m back here playing in Chicago.”

On coming up short after a pair of early season victories:
“They just made plays and we didn’t down the stretch. Critical plays that we didn’t really execute so that’s pretty much what happened they just two more plays in the closing minutes that we didn’t make.”

On facing Quigley and Vandersloot in the backcourt:
“They didn’t do much subbing today and that was the same as last year so we’re very familiar with their sets and things like that. I think for us it’s about figuring out our rotation and getting back into game shape and things like that.”

On Sue Bird’s absence and how they’re handling it
“It’s really hard to replace someone like Sue, I think everyone’s just trying to step up and do their share whether it’s grabbing one more rebound or talking more, things like that. We’re still trying to figure it out but it’s fun trying to see who’s gonna step up game to game.”