FINAL SCORE: CHI 83, NYL 50
NEW YORK LIBERTY (1-1) vs. CHICAGO SKY (1-1)
WINTRUST ARENA | 2022 WNBA REGULAR SEASON | COMMISSIONER’S CUP GAME | MAY 11, 2022
| TEAM | HIGH POINTS | HIGH ASSISTS | HIGH REBOUNDS |
| CHI | EVANS (15) | VANDERSLOOT (6) | MEESSEMAN, PARKER, VANDERSLOOT (6) |
| NYL | XU (10) | LANEY (6) | IONESCU, DOLSON (6) |
TONIGHT’S GAME HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
- The Sky set a franchise record in margin of victory (33 points). Their previous record margin of victory was 32 points in a 107-75 win vs Seattle on August 29, 2021
- The New York Liberty’s Stefanie Dolson and Liberty assistant coach Olaf Lange returned for the first time since last season’s championship (ring ceremony will take place May 24th)
- The Chicago Sky’s Rebekah Gardner made her WNBA debut and finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals on 6 for 9 shooting.
- The Sky scored the first basket of the game at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter and never surrendered the lead for the entire game.
- This is the least amount of points the Sky have given up in franchise history. The previous low was 54 points on July 13, 2011
- The Liberty scored just 50 points, their lowest point total since they scored 46 on August 5, 2014
NEXT UP: The Chicago Sky will start a three-game road trip starting on Saturday, May 14, 2022 against the Minnesota Lynx who are 0-3 after losses to the Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. Tip-off at Target Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
Most recently, the Lynx fell to rookie-filled Indiana, who only won six games last season. The Lynx played without Odyssey Sims, who is dealing with a personal matter. Minnesota turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 24 points for the Fever. Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles is currently playing her last season in the WNBA, she announced earlier this season. Fowles scored 26 points and 14 rebounds against the Fever.
KEY RUNS
- The Sky started the game on a 7-0 run in the first 1:24
- After the Liberty cut the lead to two on a 7-2 run, the Sky scored six straight points to bring the lead back to eight, 15-7
- Outscored the Liberty 20-8 in the second period to take a 36-17 halftime lead.
- The Sky opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run to go take their biggest lead of the game of 28 points, 49-21
- The Liberty outscored the Sky 11-6 in the final 4:38 of the third to bring the lead down to 23 entering the final period, 55-32
KEY STATS
- Rebekah Gardner scored her first WNBA basket on a lay-up at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter.
- The Liberty scored 17 points in the first half, the lowest total in a half since playing the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 1, 2015
- The Liberty shot just 3-for-17 in the first quarter (17.6%) and 7-for-35 in the first half (20.0%)
- The Sky had only seven turnovers after 25 in their season opener vs Sparks
CHICAGO NOTES
- The Sky went with a different starting lineup then they did in the season opener: Courtney Vandersloot, Emma Meesseman, Candace Parker, Azurá Stevens and Rebekah Gardner
- Through six quarters of the 2022 season, Courtney Vandersloot shot just 2-for-15 from the field and committed 11 turnovers.
- Dana Evans set a new career-high in three pointers made (3)
- The Sky made 10-for-22 in three pointers after only going 7-for-22 vs. Sparks
- Rebekah Gardner finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist in her WNBA debut
NEW YORK NOTES
- Did not score in double-figures in either of the first two quarters and had seven turnovers and only nine assists in the first half
- Liberty shot 33.3% from the field for the game
- Liberty shot only 13.3% from three after having the third best 3-point-percentage (36.2%) last season.
- Han Xu scored for the first time since the 2019 season on a free throw with 3:02 left in the 3rd quarter
- Han Xu finished with a team-high 10 points in her first game since September 8th, 2019
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Kelly Kane | Director of Public Relations | kkane@chicagosky.net | 312-925-9559 |
Carly Ebisuya | Public Relations Coordinator | cebisuya@chicagosky.net | 714-305-6808 |
Daily practice photos, b-roll, and additional assets can be found on NBA Content Network.
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