Sky Lose to Storm on Road, 97-88
WNBA Chicago Sky

Sky Lose to Storm on Road, 97-88

Published on August 11, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


The Chicago Sky lost to the Seattle Storm 97-88 in Climate Pledge Arena on Monday, Aug. 10. The Sky are now 12-21 on the season, 10-11 against the Western Conference, 4-12 on the road and 22-30 against the Storm all time.

In just her sixth game with the Sky, DiJonai Carrington put together a career outing in her most impressive performance of the year so far. The guard/forward became the first player in WNBA history to record 25+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ steals off the bench in a game. The former All-Defensive Team member finished the night scoring a career-high 26 points while notching season highs in steals (5) and rebounds (6). She drilled all 10 of her attempts from the charity stripe, setting a new career high from the stripe.

On the same evening she moved to No. 2 on Chicago's all-time offensive rebounds list, Sky center Kamilla Cardoso recorded her 12th double-double of the year with 15 points and 13 rebounds. The former Gamecock is one of seven players across the league with at least 12 double-doubles and is averaging 15 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest over her last four appearances.

Veteran Courtney Vandersloot helped ignite Chicago's offense in the third quarter, a period which saw the Sky whittle Seattle's 17-point edge to four. The franchise's all-time leader in points scored 11 of her 13 in the third frame and sank eight of her nine attempts from the line following intermission.

Alongside Vandersloot, guard Natasha Cloud dished out a team-high eight assists, scored seven points and forced a pair of steals. The 34-year-old is now up to 17 games with at least five assists this season and is responsible for 6.1 assists per game since rejoining the starting unit on July 7.

Azurá Stevens showed out on both sides of the court with nine points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists, and veteran Rachel Banham rounded out the scoring for the Sky with eight points, including her 400th career three-point field goal, in her 12 minutes played.

For Seattle, All-Star center Dominique Malonga dropped 26 points, snatched 10 rebounds, denied three shot attempts and converted on nine of her 14 shot attempts in 30 minutes of action. Guard Natisha Hiedeman pitched in with 18 points and nine assists, nailing all 12 of her free throw attempts in her game-leading 33 minutes. Reserve guard Zia Cooke finished with 16 points, corralled six boards and posted a team-leading plus-16 for the second unit, and Jordan Horston accounted for 10 points in her fourth game in double figures this season.

Other highlights include:

Kamilla Cardoso (299) reached No. 2 on Chicago's all-time offensive rebounds list

Cardoso, in her third season, trails only Sylvia Fowles (510) all time. She is on pace to pass Fowles for the all-time franchise lead in her fifth season with the Sky

Cardoso (573) surpassed Allie Quigley (572) for No. 6 on Chicago's all-time defensive rebounds list

She's now one of four players to rank within the top six on both Chicago's all-time offensive and defensive rebounds lists

Sky guard/forward DiJonai Carrington notched a career high in scoring with 26 points

Carrington surpassed her previous career high (22) which she set as a member of the Connecticut Sun on 6/27/23

With her 26-point, six-rebound, five-assist effort, Carrington became the first player in WNBA history to record 25+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ steals off the bench in a game

Carrington established a new career high in free throws made (10) in a single game, eclipsing her previous career mark (8) set on 7/1/24 against Phoenix

Carrington logged her 500th career field goal

Carrington notched her 100th career three-point field goal

Carrington tied her career high (6) for free throws made in a single quarter during the opening frame. The last time Carrington achieved this feat was in the fourth quarter against New York while playing for Connecticut on 9/15/21

Elizabeth Williams registered her 500th career assist

With her start against the Storm, Courtney Vandersloot (451) passed Becky Hammon (450) for 17th on the all-time games played leaderboard

With her first made shot from deep, Rachel Banham reached 400 career three-point field goals. Banham is the 41st player to achieve this feat in WNBA history, joining active Sky guard Skylar Diggins (451). She falls at No. 8 for three-point field goals made in Sky history, just one and three behind the No. 7 and No. 6 slots, respectively

Courtney Vandersloot recorded a season-high points made in a single quarter with 11. Vandersloot surpassed her previous season high (8) which came against Atlanta on July 19 in the fourth quarter.

Vandersloot also tied her career high for free throws made in a quarter (6). The last time Vandersloot recorded six free throws in a quarter was in the third quarter against New York on July 29, 2022.

NEXT UP: The Sky extend their west coast road trip when they take on the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Chase Center. Chicago is 1-0 against Golden State this season. The Sky trail the all-time series, going 1-3 against the Valkyries.

In their previous meeting this season, on May 13, the Sky pulled away with a 69-63 win against a sold-out Valkyries crowd. Rickea Jackson led the charge in her 39 minutes of action, posting 18 points, including the deciding three-pointer late in the game to seal it for the Sky. Veteran Skylar Diggins added 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the outing, while guard Jacy Sheldon registered 12 points on a 50% clip from the field.

The Valkyries put up their lowest single-game field goal percentage in franchise history in that outing, shooting 29.3% (22 for 75) from the floor. Two-time All-Star Gabby Williams led the Valks in scoring with 18 points, including a 50% mark from beyond the arc. Guard Veronica Burton posted 16 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Kiah Stokes added seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds in the losing effort.

Williams leads the Valkyries in scoring this season, averaging 14.7 points per game while shooting 42% from the field. Burton contributes 12.3 points and a team-high 5.7 assists. On the defensive end, Stokes puts up 5.3 rebounds and a team-high 1.8 blocks.

The game between the Sky and the Valkyries tips off at 9 p.m. CT and will be broadcast nationally on USA Network and locally on The U.

KEY RUNS:

Seattle went on a 16-6 run from 8:08 to 5:04 in the second quarter

Chicago went on a 14-5 run from 8:37 to 6:01 in the third quarter

The Sky went on a 12-4 run from 6:43 to 2:52 in the fourth quarter

KEY STATS:

Chicago's bench outscored Seattle's 39-29

The Sky outscored the Storm in the paint, 48-38

Both teams combined for 18 steals

Seattle led by as many as 17 points

Each team recorded a 35+ rebound game

The Storm scored 22 points off Chicago's 15 turnovers

The Sky recorded 33 points in the third quarter

Chicago recorded three blocks in the fourth quarter

The Sky shot just 78.6% (22 of 28) from the charity stripe while the Storm shot 89.3% (25 of 28)

CHICAGO NOTES:

Kamilla Cardoso accounted for four of the Sky's 16 points in the first quarter

DiJonai Carrington accounted for six of Chicago's 16 points in the first quarter

Carrington accounted for five of the Sky's 17 points in the second quarter

Carrington accounted for 12 of Chicago's 22 points in the fourth quarter (10 points, two points created from assists)

Natasha Cloud accounted for five of the Sky's 16 points in the first quarter (one point, four points created from assists)

Cloud accounted for eight of Chicago's 17 points in the second quarter (two points, six points created from assists)

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

Courtney Vandersloot accounted for 15 of the Sky's 33 points in the third quarter (11 points, four points created from assists)

Azurá Stevens accounted for 12 of Chicago's 33 points in the third quarter (seven points, five points created from assists)

SEATTLE NOTES:

Jordan Horston accounted for five of the Storm's 22 points in the first quarter

Jade Melbourne accounted for seven of Seattle's 22 points in the first quarter (five points, two points created from assists)

Dominique Malonga accounted for eight of the Storm's 25 points in the second quarter

Malonga accounted for 11 of Seattle's 27 points in the third quarter

Natisha Hiedeman accounted for 11 of Seattle's 25 points in the second quarter (four points, seven points created from assists)

Hiedeman accounted for 14 of the Storm's 27 points in the third quarter (eight points, six points created from assists)

Hiedeman accounted for 10 of Seattle's 23 points in the fourth quarter (six points, four points created from assists)

Ezi Magbegor accounted for seven of the Storm's 25 points in the second quarter (five points, two points created from assists)

Zia Cooke accounted for seven of Seattle's 23 points in the fourth quarter

Check out the Chicago Sky Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 11, 2026


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