By Caroline Lau

The Chicago Sky fell to the Atlanta Dream 49-86 at Wintrust Arena on Wednesday, July 16.

Atlanta started the game hot and gained an early 7-0 lead. With both Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins out with leg injuries, the Sky turned to other contributors to fill their minutes. Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner capitalized in her absence, leading the Dream with early buckets in the paint.

Kia Nurse led Chicago’s offense with five points off the bench, but the Sky struggled to find a groove with their two leading scorers out. They trailed 23-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Rachel Banham opened the scoring for the Sky with a three-pointer, but Alisha Gray quickly responded with one of her own. The Dream kept firing, knocking down multiple three-pointers to gain a 24-point lead. Chicago was able to gain some momentum with a Banham triple and a Cardoso two-point jumper. They trailed 41-23 going into half, marking their lowest scoring half of the season.

The Sky continued to struggle on the offensive end and went scoreless in the first five minutes of the third quarter. Rebecca Allen ended the drought with a much-needed three. The Dream quickly responded with back-to-back threes from Te-Hina Paopao and Brionnna Jones.

Allen kept her momentum with two more contested threes, giving her nine in the quarter. Despite her effective play beyond the arc, the Sky still trailed 74-36 headed into the fourth. They were outscored 33-13 in the third quarter.

The Sky have been building in their past few games, but without their two leading scorers, they were unable to find an offensive rhythm.

Atlanta had five players in double digits. Brittney Griner led with 15 while Brionna Jones and Alisha Gray both put up 14. As a team, they posted 26 assists compared to Chicago’s 12.

Chicago shot 25.4% from the field, making only 18 field goals.

Maddy Westbeld played a career-high 25 minutes. She had seven rebounds and two blocks. Moriah Jefferson made her return tonight and contributed seven points, five rebounds, and five assists. Kamilla Cardoso had eight points and eleven rebounds.

The Sky head into the All-Star break at 7-14 and look to get back on track in Minnesota against the 19-4 Lynx.