Sky Fall Short to Valkyries, 78-83, in First-Ever Matchup

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WNBA Chicago Sky

Sky Fall Short to Valkyries, 78-83, in First-Ever Matchup

June 27, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


The Chicago Sky lost to the Golden State Valkyries 78-93 inside Chase Center on Friday, June 29. The Sky are now 4-11 on the season, 3-4 against the Western Conference and 2-7 on the road. This game marked the first-ever meeting between the Sky and Valkyries.

Tonight's game was physical and stayed close all games with eight lead changes. The Valkyries shut down the Sky's interior offense, leading to Chicago having a season-best night from beyond the arc. The Sky connected on a season-high 13 three-pointers in tonight's game, with half of their made field goals being from deep.

The Sky's perimeter effort was headlined by Kia Nurse's five made threes, leading to a season-high 17 points off the bench. Ariel Atkins led the Sky in scoring with 20 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Angel Reese put up another strong rebounding effort with 18 to go along with 17 points and a handful of late layups that kept the Sky in contention until the final buzzer. Rachel Banham scored 11 points with three made threes to round out the Sky's double-figure scorers.

Kayla Thornton led the Valkyries in scoring with a career-high 29 points to go along with six rebounds. Tiffany Hayes scored 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Golden State got solid contributions off the bench from rookie Kaitlyn Chen (10 points) and Kate Martin (11 points).

Other highlights include:

Michaela Onyenwere tied her career high for steals in a game with three after just the first quarter

Angel Reese passed Jessica Breland (231 offensive rebounds in a Sky uniform) for fifth on the Sky's all-time offensive rebounds list with 234 after Friday's game. She is 12 total rebounds from entering the Sky's all-time top 10 list for rebounds

The Sky matched their all-time high for three-point attempts in a game with 33. They connected on 39.4% of their deep-ball attempts on the night (13 of 33)

NEXT UP: The Sky stay on the west coast to take on the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday, June 29 inside Crypto.com Arena. The Sky are 1-1 against the Sparks this season.

In the first matchup between the two teams in Los Angeles, the Sky lost 78-91 after Kelsey Plum and Azurá Stevens combined to score 52 points. The Sky had four players score in double figures in that game, with Angel Reese going for 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Kamilla Cardoso notching 12 points, and Courtney Vandersloot and Rebecca Allen totaling 11 apiece.

The Sky defeated the Sparks 97-86 in the second meeting between the two teams. Kamilla Cardoso scored a career-high 27 points in that game. Angel Reese filled up the stat sheet, going for 17 rebounds, six assists and season highs of 18 points and four steals. Ariel Atkins added 13 points and five assists in the win.

Chicago and Los Angeles only play each other a total of three times, so this final game of the season between the two teams will decide this year's series. The Sky are 18-31 against Los Angeles all time.

The game between the Sky and the Sparks tips off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. The game is available nationally on ESPN.

KEY RUNS:

The Valkyries went on a 15-6 run from 7:12 to 2:55 in the first quarter

The Sky went on an 14-5 run from 2:39 in the first quarter to 8:52 in the second quarter

The Valkyries responded with a 19-4 run from 0:10 in the first quarter to 2:00 in the second quarter

Chicago went on a 12-4 run from 1:35 in the third quarter to 8:22 in the fourth quarter

Golden State then went on an 17-6 run from 6:33 to 2:00 in the fourth quarter

KEY STATS:

10 of the Sky's first 13 made field goals were three-pointers

The Sky's bench was outscored by the Valkyries 23-30

Golden State scored 16 points off Chicago's 11 turnovers

There was a total of eight lead changes and seven ties

The Sky have had 11 or fewer turnovers in three staight games

CHICAGO NOTES:

Ariel Atkins accounted for seven of the Sky's 22 points in the first quarter (four points, three points created from assists)

Atkins accounted for 10 of Chicago's 20 points in the third quarter (seven points, three points created from assists)

Kia Nurse scored nine of the Sky's 22 points in the first quarter, making three three-pointers

Angel Reese scored 12 of Chicago's 22 points in the fourth quarter

Reese tallied eight rebounds in the fourth quarter

GOLDEN STATE NOTES:

Tiffany Hayes scored five of the Valkyries' 20 points in the first quarter

Kayla Thornton scored seven of Golden State's 20 points in the first quarter

Thornton scored four of the Valkyries' 17 points in the third quarter

Check out the Chicago Sky Statistics



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 27, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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