WNBA Chicago Sky

Sky Lose 62-80 to Mercury in First Game After All-Star Break

Published on July 21, 2023 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


The Chicago Sky fell to the Phoenix Mercury, 62-80, for the Sky's fourth straight loss. The Sky are now 8-13 on the season and 4-6 on the road. The Sky also fell to 5-3 against the Western Conference this season and have now dropped 10 of their last 13 games. The Mercury evened the season series, 1-1, against the Sky by winning tonight.

Kahleah Copper led the Sky in scoring for the fourth straight game, finishing with 17 points on 5 of 18 shooting. Meanwhile, the Mercury got 45 points from their bench, compared to the Sky's 19 bench points. Shey Peddy led the way for the Mercury's scorers, matching her career high for three-pointers made with five en route to scoring 20 points. Megan Gustafson added a season-high 12 points while Brittney Griner put up a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Brittney Griner passed DeWanna Bonner (4,820) for second on the Mercury's all-time points list, ending tonight with 4,830 points

Griner also passed Bonner (1,588) for second on the Mercury's all-time defensive rebound list, ending tonight with 1,591 defensive rebounds

Elizabeth Williams reached 1,500 career rebounds

Alanna Smith set a career high for steals in a game with four

NEXT UP: The Sky travel to Seattle to play the Storm for the first of three matchups this season. The Storm are the only team the Sky have yet to play this season. Chicago is 17-23 all-time against the Storm and went 1-2 against Seattle in the 2022 regular season.

The Storm are led by Jewell Loyd, who averaged 25.7 points per game entering Thursday night. Loyd is fresh off scoring a WNBA All-Star record 31 points in the 2023 All-Star Game. Loyd was named the MVP of the All-Star Game for her efforts. Seattle's Ezi Magbegor joined Loyd in the 2023 All-Star Game and averaged 13.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game entering Thursday night.

KEY RUNS:

The Mercury went on an 18-4 run from 7:37 to 1:21 in the first quarter

The Sky were outscored 22-8 in the first quarter

The Sky went on an 14-6 run from 4:57 to 0:12 in the second quarter

The Sky went on a 18-5 run from 6:43 to 0:34 in the third quarter

Phoenix went on a 24-8 run from 0:34 in the third quarter to 3:21 in the fourth quarter

KEY STATS:

The Sky's 9.5% (2 for 21) three-point percentage is their lowest this season and their lowest percentage on 20+ attempts in franchise history (Next lowest: 12.5% on 3 for 24 shooting on 7/23/2022 at New York)

The Sky shot 16.7% (3 of 18) from the field and 14.3% (1 of 7) from downtown in the first quarter while the Mercury shot 45.5% (10 of 22) from the field and 50% (1 of 2) from three

The Mercury won the first quarter by 14 points, the most they've outscored an opponent in a quarter this season (Previous: Phoenix won the fourth quarter of a 6/11 matchup with the Fever by 11 points)

The Sky's eight first quarter points were their fewest in a first quarter this season (Previous: nine in a 6/22 matchup with Washington)

The Sky fell to 3-11 this season when being outscored in the paint after being outscored 40-32 in the paint tonight

Phoenix's biggest lead over Chicago was 20 points. The Sky never led

The Sky's 8.3% three-point percentage in the first half was the team's lowest in a first half this season

The Sky shot 57.1% (4 of 7) from the free-throw line in the first half

The Sky recorded three blocks in the third quarter

The Mercury had a season-high 11 offensive rebounds

Phoenix set a season high in a game with 40 rebounds

The Sky tied their season high for offensive rebounds in a game with 15

The Sky dropped to 0-5 when there are more than two days between games

CHICAGO NOTES:

With her 1,500th rebound tonight, Elizabeth Williams became just the ninth player in WNBA history with 2,000+ points, 1,500+ rebounds, 400+ blocks, 300+ assists and 200+ steals. She got there in 259 games, good for fourth-fastest among qualifying players (Across the Timeline)

Courtney Williams accounted for six of the Sky's 22 points in the second quarter (two points, four points created from assists)

Alanna Smith reached 50 career steals

Ruthy Hebard scored her first field goal and points of the season and ended the game with five points and six rebounds

Kahleah Copper scored six of her 17 points in the third quarter

Elizabeth Williams accounted for six of the Sky's 12 fourth-quarter points (two points, four points created from assists)

The Sky dropped to 4-4 when Elizabeth Williams has seven or more rebounds

PHOENIX NOTES:

Diana Taurasi did not play in tonight's game due to a quad contusion/left big toe injury

Brittney Griner accounted for seven of the Mercury's 18 second quarter points (four points, three points created from assists)

Griner matched a season high with 11 rebounds

Megan Gustafson's 12 points and six rebounds came in 12 minutes off the bench

Every Mercury player scored at least two points

Shey Peddy scored seven of her 20 points in the fourth quarter

PREGAME ZOOM RECORDING: Link Here

POSTGAME ZOOM RECORDING: Link Here

PASSCODE: SKY2023!

Check out the Chicago Sky Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 21, 2023


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