The Chicago Sky defeated the Seattle Storm 82-80 on Sunday, Aug. 16, at Climate Pledge Arena, holding off a late Seattle push after building a 21-point lead.
The Sky improved to 13-22 overall, 5-13 on the road and 23-30 all time against the Storm. Chicago led 46-29 at halftime after outscoring Seattle 23-11 in the first quarter and 23-18 in the second.
Kamilla Cardoso led the Sky with 22 points and 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. The former Gamecock also reached the free-throw line a season-best 11 times, matching her career high, and recorded three blocks. Over her last six games, Cardoso is averaging 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Natasha Cloud added 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals and a block in a team-leading 34 minutes. The performance came on the same day Cloud became the eighth player in WNBA history to reach 1,900 career assists. She also went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, including six crucial free throws in the fourth quarter.
Courtney Vandersloot finished with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and a season-high four steals in 30 minutes. Vandersloot became the fourth WNBA player this season to record at least 15 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals in a game. Of the 165 such performances in league history, she became the third-oldest player to accomplish the feat.
DiJonai Carrington contributed eight points and a season-high seven rebounds. She also recorded a season-high five rebounds in the third quarter. Since returning from injury, Carrington is averaging 10.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Rachel Banham added five points, four rebounds and a steal in 12 minutes. Banham also reached 650 points in a Chicago jersey, becoming the 25th player in Sky history to reach the mark.
Chicago finished with a season-high 47 rebounds, outrebounding Seattle 47-34. The Sky also recorded 11 steals to Seattle’s seven and scored 24 points off turnovers compared with 16 for the Storm. Chicago added 13 second-chance points to Seattle’s two.
Seattle battled back after halftime, outscoring Chicago 26-14 in the third quarter and 25-22 in the fourth. The Storm went on a 24-9 run from 8:17 to 0:06 of the third quarter and later put together a 15-5 run from 7:15 to 1:52 in the fourth.
Despite the comeback, Chicago held on for the two-point victory.
Dominique Malonga led Seattle with 19 points and 13 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. She went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Ezi Magbegor finished with 17 points, four rebounds and a season-high five blocks. Rookie Awa Fam added 14 points and five rebounds, while Jade Melbourne recorded 11 points, six assists and five rebounds. Zia Cooke scored 10 points.
Seattle outscored Chicago 46-36 in the paint and held a 14-6 advantage in fast-break points. The Storm also held a 26-19 advantage in bench scoring and recorded a season-high 13 blocks.
Chicago shot 42.9 percent from three-point range in the first quarter while holding Seattle to 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Sky also held the Storm to 11 points in the opening quarter and recorded five steals.
The Sky return to Chicago following the three-game road trip for their third meeting of the season with the New York Liberty on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Wintrust Arena. Chicago holds a 36-40 all-time record against the Liberty.
The matchup begins a three-game home stand, which will be the last time the Sky play consecutive home games this season. The game tips off at 8 p.m. CT and will be available locally on The U.
Chicago dropped the first two meetings with New York this season, falling 96-95 on June 17 and 95-94 on June 22.
In the first meeting, Sabrina Ionescu hit the game-deciding basket with 10.3 seconds remaining. Sydney Taylor led Chicago with 24 points, while Gabriela Jaquez added a career-high 22 points and Skylar Diggins scored 19 points.
In the second meeting, New York rallied from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit. Taylor recorded a career-high 31 points, while Ionescu scored 29 points, including nine in the final minute. Jonquel Jones hit the tie-breaking free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining.
Stewart leads the Liberty in scoring at 20.7 points per game, along with 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks. Ionescu is averaging 16.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 42.1 percent from the field. Jones is averaging 14.7 points and a team-high 9.4 rebounds.
The Sky will look to carry the momentum from Sunday’s 82-80 victory into Tuesday’s matchup with the Liberty.
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