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WNBA Chicago Sky

Sky Continue Playoff Push with Win Against Fever, 96-69

September 5, 2023 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


The Chicago Sky defeated the Indiana Fever, 96-69, inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 5. The 27-point win is the Sky's largest margin of victory this year. The Sky have a plus/minus of +32 in their past six games. With the win, the Sky moved to 16-22 on the season and 3-1 against the Fever this year, winning the season series. The Sky haven't lost a season series to Indiana since 2017. The win also moves the Sky to 4-15 against the Eastern Conference and 10-9 on the road this season.

Kahleah Copper led the Sky in scoring, posting 25 points on 69.2% shooting (9 of 13). This is Copper's 21st time leading the Sky in scoring this season. Meanwhile, Marina Mabrey and Courtney Williams each scored 17 points, with Mabrey adding six assists and Williams adding eight boards. Robyn Parks and Ruthy Hebard combined to score 18 points off the bench for the Sky.

Aliyah Boston was the Fever's leading scorer tonight, surpassing several rookie milestones (below) en route to 16 points and seven rebounds. The Sky held Kelsey Mitchell (18.4 points per game entering tonight) to just 10 points. The only other Fever player to score in double figures was Emma Cannon, who dropped 10 points.

The Sky entered Tuesday night's game against the Fever 1.0 games behind the Los Angeles Sparks for the No. 8 and final spot in the playoff picture. The Sky defeated the Fever and then later Tuesday, the Sparks fell to the Connecticut Sun. Chicago moved ahead of Los Angeles for the No. 8 spot due to winning the season series tiebreaker 3-1.

Other highlights include:

Marina Mabrey tied Allie Quigley (80 made threes in 2019) for the most three-pointers made in a single season in Sky history, hitting one three tonight to move to 80 on the year

Aliyah Boston passed Rhyne Howard (552 points scored in rookie season) for 11th on the WNBA's all-time rookie scoring list, finishing tonight with 562 points scored in her rookie season

Boston passed Teaira McCowan (197 defensive rebounds as a rookie) and A'ja Wilson (198 defensive rebounds as a rookie) for No. 8 then No. 7 on the WNBA's all-time rookie defensive rebounding list, finishing today with 200 defensive rebounds as a rookie

Boston also passed Candace Parker (313 total rebounds as a rookie) for No. 5 on the WNBA's all-time rookie rebounds list, finishing today with 316 total rebounds as a rookie

NEXT UP: The Sky return home for a key matchup with the Minnesota Lynx on Friday, Sept. 8 for Chicago's home regular season finale. The Sky are 1-1 this season against Minnesota and 17-24 all time. Additionally, the Sky are 12-7 against the Western Conference but are 6-13 at home.

The Sky got the victory over the Lynx in the season opener, with Kahleah Copper leading the team in points (20), rebounds (seven) and assists (five). Elizabeth Williams and Alanna Smith combined to add in 29 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and five blocks. Smith, in particular, did not miss from the floor (5 of 5) in her Sky debut. The loss for Minnesota kicked off an 0-6 start for the Lynx, who have gone 19-13 since that point and find themselves at No. 5 in the playoff picture entering tonight's game.

Minnesota responded in the second matchup of the year between the two teams with an 88-79 win over the Sky. In that game, Copper led the Sky in scoring with 23 points while Elizabeth Williams scored 18 points and brought down nine boards. In two games this year against Minnesota, Copper is averaging 21.5 points and Elizabeth Williams is averaging 16.0 points and 7.5 rebounds. Despite the play of Copper and E. Williams, Napheesa Collier scored 29 points to guide the Lynx to victory while Jessica Shepard stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Lynx enter the game against Chicago having won six of their last 10 and are on a two-game winning streak. The Sky have won four of their last six on their march toward a playoff spot.

The game between the Sky and the Lynx tips off at 7 p.m. CST on Friday, Sept. 8 inside Wintrust Arena. The regular-season home finale for the Sky will be broadcast nationally on ION.

KEY RUNS:

The Sky went on a 18-7 run from 9:13 to 0:18 in the first quarter

Chicago went on a 14-6 run from 6:06 to 1:51 in the second quarter

The Sky went on a 15-6 run from 5:51 in the third quarter to 9:30 in the third quarter

Chicago put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run from 8:42 to 6:16 in the fourth quarter

KEY STATS:

The Sky tied a season high in a game with 14 made three-pointers

The Sky shot 43.8% from downtown on a season-high 32 attempts from deep. The Sky were one three-point attempt shy of tying the franchise's all-time record of 33 in a game

The Sky tied their season low in turnovers in a game with eight turnovers

Chicago only allowed eight points off their eight turnovers. The Fever committed 19 turnovers, one shy of the most by any Sky opponent this season, and allowed 21 points off those turnovers

The Sky outscored Indiana 30-22 in the paint and 31-25 in bench points

The Sky led by as many as 30 points while the Fever led by just two points, the opening basket of the game

The Sky and the Fever had the same number of offensive rebounds (five) but the Sky scored 12 second-chance points while the Fever scored just six second-chance points

The Fever shot just 31.3% from three on 16 attempts

The Sky out-assisted the Fever 25-17

After today's game, the Sky are 13-3 this season after leading at halftime

The Sky blocked three shots and recorded four steals in the first quarter

The Sky held the Fever to just nine points in the first quarter

The Fever shot 17.6% (3 of 17) from the floor in the first quarter en route to nine points in the period

The Sky shot 57.9% (11 of 19) from the floor in the second quarter en route to 31 points in the period

CHICAGO NOTES:

Courtney Williams scored seven of the Sky's 18 points in the first quarter

Kahleah Copper scored 13 of the Sky's 31 points in the second quarter

Copper scored seven of the Sky's 27 points in the third quarter

Marina Mabrey created nine points off three assists in the second quarter while scoring six points of her own in the period

Mabrey again created nine points off three assists, this time in the third quarter, and scored an additional seven points in the period

Sika Kone made her first career three-pointer and hit another in the fourth quarter

Robyn Parks scored eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter

INDIANA NOTES:

Kelsey Mitchell scored seven of the Fever's nine points in the first quarter, accounting for 77.8% of their points in the period

NaLyssa Smith scored 11 of the Fever's 25 points in the second quarter

Aliyah Boston reached 50 career steals

Boston reached 200 career defensive rebounds

Boston is the only rookie in WNBA history to put up 500+ points, 250+ rebounds, 75+ assists, 50+ blocks and 50+ steals in a season (Across the Timeline)

Grace Berger accounted for eight of the Fever's 20 points in the fourth quarter (two points, six points created from assists)

Emma Cannon scored six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter

Check out the Chicago Sky Statistics



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from September 5, 2023


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