Sky Face Sparks for Second Time Within the Past Week

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WNBA Chicago Sky

Sky Face Sparks for Second Time Within the Past Week

June 29, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


Chicago will continue their road trip when they face Los Angeles on Sunday, June 29 at 3 p.m. CT. Sunday's matchup will be the second game the teams have played each other within the past week and the third time the teams have met this season. On Tuesday, the Sky got the 97-86 home win to even the series 1-1 this season.

In the win, the Sky overcame a 14-point deficit. Los Angeles was able to go on a couple of runs throughout the game, but Chicago showed grit and were able to come back to secure the win due to a 30-point fourth quarter behind Kamilla Cardoso's 14 points in the quarter.

The Sparks were led by Azurá Stevens who had 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Kelsey Plum added 20 points and five assists, and Dearica Hamby had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Part of Chicago's success was keeping Plum in check by holding her to her season average in points. Plum has shown she is one of the most explosive players in the league as the Sparks' leading scorer. In May she had a 37-point outing against Golden State.

In their first matchup, Plum had 28 points, which included six three-pointers. In Tuesday's game, Chicago forced Plum to go 0-6 from beyond the arc and held the Sparks to just 26.9% from deep.

The Sky's defense also forced 18 turnovers from the Sparks, while only committing 11 themselves.

Down low, expect a rebounding battle once again as the matchup will feature two players in the top five in rebounds per game. Chicago's Angel Reese leads the league with 12.3 rebounds per game, while Los Angeles's Stevens is fourth with 8.6 rebounds. In the last matchup, Reese dominated the rebounding battle, having 17 rebounds along with 18 points and four assists.

For Chicago, they will be without Cardoso who led the team in the previous win with 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Ariel Atkins added 13 points and five assists in Tuesday's game over the Sparks. Atkins is coming off a stellar performance in Chicago's last game against Golden State where she scored 20 points and had five assists.

What to watch for the Sky: Their shift from the paint to three-point.

In the Sky's close loss on Friday to the Valkyries, Chicago attempted 33 shots from deep. This was well above their season average of 21.5 attempts per game. The increase could be a result of the team shifting their focus from the paint to other areas due to Cardoso's absence.

The three-point increase worked well for the Sky despite the loss, as 39 of Chicago's 78 points came from beyond the arc. Kia Nurse came off the bench and hit five threes to finish with 17 points. Rachel Banham added three triples and had 11 points. As a team the Sky shot 39.4% from deep.

Last time against the Sparks Chicago only attempted 18 three-pointers and shot 33.3%, but focused on the paint due to having Reese and Cardoso down low.

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