Sky Win in One-Point Nailbiter and Beat Los Angeles, 76-75
August 30, 2023 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release
The Chicago Sky defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75 on Tuesday night in Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Sky won the pivotal matchup to move to within 0.5 games of the No. 8 and final playoff spot, behind the Sparks. The win gives Chicago a 3-1 season series win over Los Angeles and the franchise moves to 14-30 all time against the Sparks. The Sky have now won the season series against Los Angeles in three straight seasons and three times ever. The season series win gives the Sky the tiebreaker in any potential playoff scenario. The Sky are now 12-7 against the Western Conference this season and are 9-9 on the road. The win is also the Sky's third in their last four games.
Kahleah Copper led the Sky in scoring, putting up 22 points on 45.5% shooting (10 of 22) and grabbing seven boards. Marina Mabrey scored 14 points for the Sky while shooting 40.0% (4 of 10) from deep while Elizabeth Williams racked up eight points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Courtney Williams finished the game with seven points, seven assists and nine rebounds.
Nneka Ogwumike led the way for the Sparks with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double, recording a season high-tying four steals. Jordin Canada also came up big for the Sparks, putting up 16 points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals. N. Ogwumike and Canada combined for eight of the Sparks' 10 steals in the matchup. Meanwhile, Karlie Samuelson hit two three-pointers in the final 2:17 of play and finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Other highlights include:
Nneka Ogwumike passed Becky Hammon (5,841 career points) for 15th on the WNBA's all-time points list, finishing tonight's game with 5,850 career points
Jordin Canada's second steal on the night was her 72nd on the season, the most in a single season in Sparks franchise history (Passing Alana Beard who had 71 in 2017)
NEXT UP: The Sky return home on Sunday, Sept. 3 to take on the New York Liberty for the first-ever WNBA Marvel Super Hero Day. This is the fourth and final matchup between the Sky and the Liberty this season, with the Sky currently losing the season series 1-2. The Sky first played New York this season in back-to-back games on June 2 and June 4, splitting those games, before losing on Aug. 11 on the road.
In the first matchup of the season between the two teams, Kahleah Copper (20 points), Alanna Smith (18 points) and Marina Mabrey (15 points) combined for 53 of the Sky's 76 points, but the Sky fell by one point at home.
After losing a close one, the Sky bounced back and took a game from the Liberty the following game, winning 86-82. Copper led the way in that game for the Sky, scoring 27 points while Mabrey scored 17 points and Courtney Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Most recently, the Sky lost 73-89 to the Liberty on Aug. 11. Smith scored 19 points but no other player had more than Mabrey's 12 points. Meanwhile, the Liberty got a balanced scoring attack, including a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double from Breanna Stewart, 18 points from Jonquel Jones, and 19 points and eight assists from Sabrina Ionescu.
The Sky are amid a playoff push, 0.5 games out of the No. 8 seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs with four regular season games to go. The final game this season between the Sky and the Liberty tips at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 3. The game will broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
KEY RUNS:
The Sparks went on a 7-0 run from 8:30 to 6:50 in the second quarter
The Sky went on an 8-0 run from 1:19 to 0:27 in the second quarter
The Sky outscored the Sparks 21-13 in the third quarter
Chicago went on a 22-9 run from 4:40 in the third quarter to 6:04 in the fourth quarter
Los Angeles went on a 19-8 run from 8:40 to 0:38 in the fourth quarter
The Sky shot 12.5% (1 for 8) from the floor from 5:23 to 2:00 in the fourth quarter but shot 100% (2 for 2) in the final 1:59 of play
In all, the Sparks outscored the Sky 19-12 in the fourth quarter
The Sparks outscored the Sky 12-4 in the final 3:33 of play but the Sky held on for the one-point win
KEY STATS:
The one-point win is the Sky's narrowest win of the season
The Sky recorded three blocks in the first quarter
The Sky committed 11 turnovers in the first half and allowed eight points off those turnovers while the Sparks committed just four turnovers and allowed zero points off those turnovers
The Sky's 11 turnovers in the first half were one shy of their season high of 12 in a half (Happened twice this year)
The Sky recorded just four turnovers in the second half
In all, the Sparks turned the ball over 12 times and allowed five points off those turnovers while the Sky committed 15 turnovers and allowed 12 points off those turnovers
The Sky shot 46.2% (30 of 65) from the floor while the Sparks shot just 36.7% (29 of 79) from the floor
The Sky shot 40.9% (9 of 22) from downtown while the Sparks shot just 30.4% (7 of 23) from three
However, the Sky shot just 53.8% (7 of 13) from the free throw line while the Sparks connected on 83.3% (10 of 12) of their free throws
The Sparks recorded a season high in a game with 14 offensive rebounds
The Sparks' season-high 14 offensive rebounds led to just seven second chance points while the Sky's eight offensive boards led to 15 second chance points
The two teams were dead even in points in the paint, at 34-34
Both teams led by at least 10 points in the game, the Sky led by as many as 10 points while the Sparks led by as many as 11
The Sparks outscored the Sky 18-13 in bench points
The Sparks grabbed 15 rebounds in the fourth quarter, tying their season high for rebounds in a quarter (Tying their 15 rebounds in the third quarter of an Aug. 4 game against Washington)
The Sky improved to 6-16 when playing in Los Angeles all time
CHICAGO NOTES:
With Alanna Smith out (Concussion Protocol), Morgan Bertsch started her first game since May 26 against Washington and her fourth start of the season
Bertsch's 12 points were her most since her career high of 16 points on June 18 against Washington
Bertsch scored eight of the Sky's 21 points in the first quarter
10 of Bertsch's 12 points came in the first half
Courtney Williams accounted for 10 of the Sky's 21 points in the first quarter (four points, six points created from assists)
Courtney Williams recorded seven points, seven rebounds and five assists in the first half
Every Sky starter scored at least six points by the end of the first half
Kahleah Copper scored seven of the Sky's 21 points in the third quarter
Copper scored eight of the Sky's 12 points in the fourth quarter
Elizabeth Williams recorded three blocks in the third quarter
Elizabeth Williams' three blocks in the third quarter tie her season high for blocks in a quarter (Twice, most recently in the fourth quarter of a July 12 matchup with Connecticut)
Elizabeth Williams' five blocks were one shy of tying her season high (six)
Elizabeth Williams pulled down five rebounds in the fourth quarter, tying her season high for rebounds in a quarter (Ties her five rebounds in the first quarter of a June 9 matchup with Los Angeles)
Mabrey recorded four of her six assists in the fourth quarter and created eight points off those assists
Sika Kone posted four points and three rebounds in the third quarter
LOS ANGELES NOTES:
Jordin Canada (eight points) and Nneka Ogwumike (10 points) paired to score 18 of the Sparks' 28 points in the first quarter
Canada and N. Ogwumike also paired for five steals in the first quarter
N. Ogwumike's 10 points led all scorers in the first quarter
N. Ogwumike's three steals in the first quarter tied a season high for steals in a quarter (Tied her three steals in the first quarter of a July 27 matchup with Indiana)
N. Ogwumike tied her season high with four steals in the game (Tying her four steals in an Aug. 19 matchup with Las Vegas)
N. Ogwumike shot 45.0% (9 of 20) from the floor but did not draw a foul on any of her 20 field goal attempts and did not attempt a free throw
Canada created six points off three assists in the first quarter
Canada accounted for nine of the Sparks' 19 points in the fourth quarter (two points, seven points created from assists)
Jasmine Thomas created 10 points off four assists in the first quarter
Azurá Stevens reached 500 career defensive rebounds
Zia Cooke scored seven of the Sparks' 19 points in the fourth quarter
Cooke finished the game with nine points off the bench
Dearica Hamby scored seven of her nine points in the first half
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 30, 2023
- WNBA Unveils End-Of-Season Awards Schedule and Announces New Process for Selecting All-Defensive Teams - WNBA
- Every Game Counts as Atlanta Dream Make Playoff Push - Atlanta Dream
- Atlanta Dream Get Necessary Win against Phoenix Mercury - Atlanta Dream
- WNBA All-Star Sabrina Ionescu Launches SI20 Foundation with Inaugural Basketball Clinic in Partnership with DREAM - New York Liberty
- Sky Win in One-Point Nailbiter and Beat Los Angeles, 76-75 - Chicago Sky
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