TODAY’S GAME HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

● The Sky is 10-6 all-time in home openers and 4-1 over i ts last five home openers. Prior to today’s game against the Liberty, the team’s last loss in a home opener was May 19, 2017 vs. Atlanta ( 91-83 loss).

● Shyla Heal, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft, made her WNBA debut with 2:38 left in the first quarter. She finished 0-1 from the field and had one turnover in just 5:04 minutes of action.

● Courtney Vandersloot finished with 14 points and 16 assists, which marks the third time in WNBA history a player has had 14+ points and 15+ assists in a game. The previous two occurrences also came from Vandersloot (in 2018 vs. Connecticut Sun and in 2020 vs. Las Vegas Aces). It also is just the fifth t ime in league history a player has had 16+ assists i n any game.

● Ruthy Hebard r ecorded her third career double-double i n today’s game and finished with 15 points and 10 r ebounds. It was Hebard’s second double-double in as many games and her third in just eight career starts.

 

NEXT UP: The Sky (2-1) hosts the Atlanta Dream (1-2) on Tuesday, May 25 at 7:00p CT from Wintrust Arena. It is the second of a five-game homestand for Chicago. Sky fans can watch on WCIU and CBS Sports Network as well as WNBA League Pass. The Dream is coming off its first victory of the season after defeating the Indiana Fever 83-79 on Friday, May 21. Tuesday’s game will be the second matchup in the last six days between the Sky and Dream.

 

KEY RUNS

● Tied 43-43 with just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Sky went on a 9-2 run over three minutes of play to conclude its first half scoring.

● After falling behind 60-55 with 7:37 left in the third quarter, the Sky went on a 10-2 run midway through the third quarter to take a 65-62 lead.

● The Liberty went on an 8-2 run over the final 2:30 in the third quarter to take a 76-72 lead heading into the final quarter of regulation.

● Chicago cut New York’s lead to 86-81 with just under three minutes to play, but the Liberty outscored the Sky 7-4 over the final minutes of the fourth quarter to preserve the lead.

 

KEY STATS

● The Sky and the Liberty had outstanding respective performances on offense to start the game. The Sky shot 66.7% from the field and 75% from three, while the Liberty shot 50% from the field and converted 75% of its shots from behind the arc. The teams also combined to score 59 points in the first quarter.

● New York went 14-28 from three-point range while Chicago finished 6-12.

● The Sky outscored the Liberty 44-32 in points in the paint as well as 21-17 in points off turnovers.

● For Chicago, Courtney Vandersloot finished with 14 points, 16 assists and grabbed five rebounds while New York’s Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 points, 12 assists and had five rebounds. It marks the first time in league history two players have had 10+points and 12+ assists in the same game, and the eighth time two players have had points/assists double-doubles in the same game.

 

CHICAGO NOTES

● The Sky finished with 52 points in the first half, the first time this season that the team crossed the 50-point threshold after two opening quarters of play. After the first and second quarters, 3 players already passed the double digit point threshold for the Sky: Diamond Deshields (12 first half points) Courtney Vandersloot (12 first half points) and Astou Ndour-Fall (10 first half points).

● Courtney Vandersloot recorded her 500th made free throw in the first half of today’s game.

● Astou Ndour-Fall notched her 300th career rebound in the first half, and finished with seven rebounds against the Liberty.

● Azurá Stevens produced her 500th career point during the initial two frames of Sunday’s home opener. She finished with six points, five rebounds and one steal against the Liberty in her 2021 season debut.

● Ruthy Hebard registered a career-high in blocks (4) for the second straight game after swatting three shots in the Sky’s previous game against the Atlanta Dream on May 19.

● With the loss, the Sky is 28-28 all-time vs the Liberty.

 

NEW YORK NOTES

● Sabrina Ionescu and forward Betnijah Laney recorded a double-digit scoring total for the fifth time in as many games for New York this season.

● The Liberty finished 14 of 28 from beyond the arc against the Sky, which ties the organization’s single-game record for made threes. New York converted 14 three-pointers in a single game just once last season, which also came against the Sky).

● Sabrina Ionescu dished out 12 assists for the Liberty, one assist shy of the organization’s single-game assists record (13) which was originally set by Teresa Weatherspoon in 1998.

 

SKY GENERAL MANAGER & HEAD COACH JAMES WADE

On what he was looking for from the team without Candace Parker and Allie Quigley.

“I was looking for us to be disruptive. I didn’t think we were disruptive enough. I know we forced 22 turnovers but I still thought that their catches were a little easier. It doesn’t matter who we have on the floor, we can’t make any excuses. We put a game plan together without those players in mind. I felt like we didn’t execute the game plan. We have to get stronger in that aspect.”

On Azurá Stevens.

“I haven’t talked to her individually after the game. I just addressed the team. I was happy to see her on the floor. Unfortunately, we were stuck with her minutes restriction but that’s for her. That’s what she has to do. I think she has to slow down a little bit and let the game come to her and probably be more decisive in some of the things that she was doing. But, that’s to be expected after having such a long layoff.”

SKY FORWARD DIAMOND DESHIELDS

On playing in front of fans at Wintrust Arena for the first time since September 2019.

“It was nice. We believe we have the best fans here in Chicago and it was nice to see them and feel their energy. We’re sorry we didn’t get the win here today, but we have a lot of basketball left to play this season.”

On what the Sky can positively take away from the loss.

“Our second half defense and limiting their three-point shots in the second half. We were able to cut that down quite a bit in the second half, that was definitely a positive.”

SKY GUARD COURTNEY VANDERSLOOT

On how the Liberty executed on offense.

“We’re going to give credit where credit is due. They made good shots and made good plays. But, I don’t think we executed our defensive plan very well. We’re going to make some adjustments and continue to get better on the defensive end.”

On making history and playing against Sabrina Ionescu.

“Sabrina is special and we knew that for her coming into the league. It’s really nice to see her manifest in the league. Obviously, she’s incredible and she makes her teammates better and she can score. She’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime player.”

SKY CENTER ASTOU NDOUR-FALL

On preparing to face the Atlanta Dream.

“It’s going to be a tough game. But we are going to be ready to play our best game of basketball, just like we are every single time.”

On what went wrong for the Sky against the Liberty.

“I think at the beginning, we were not 100 percent focused. We need to focus and we need to know which team we are facing. Today was a bad day and we’re going to learn from it and move on.”