Sky's Kahleah Copper Tallies New Career-High 29 Points in 72-96 Loss to Sun
Published on June 25, 2023 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release
The Chicago Sky fell to the Connecticut Sun 72-96, losing their sixth straight game. The Sun evened the all-time series against the Sky, moving the series record to 31-31. This is the Sky's first regular season loss to the Sun since 6/7/21.
Chicago's Kahleah Copper set a new career high in scoring with 29 points, besting her previous career high of 28 points, which she set two previous times. Copper scored 13 points in the third quarter to keep the Sky within striking distance. Copper's 70.6% field goal percentage (12 of 17) in today's career performance was a higher field goal percentage than either of her previous career highs.
Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas had her sixth career triple-double, breaking her own WNBA record for most triple-doubles. No other player in league history has more than three (C. Parker, S. Ionescu). This is Thomas's second triple-double this week after accounting for one on 6/20 against the Seattle Storm.
Other highlights include:
Kahleah Copper passed Elena Delle Donne (2,155) for fourth on the Sky's all-time points list with 2,183 points
Copper tied Diamond DeShields for eighth on the Sky's list of 20+ scoring games with 21 games of 20+ points in her Sky career
Alyssa Thomas passed Taj McWilliams-Franklin (1,814) for first on the Sun's all-time rebounds list with 1,821
Alanna Smith had a career-high five offensive rebounds, four of them coming in the second quarter alone
Smith matched her previous single-game career high of four by grabbing four offensive rebounds in the second quarter alone
With 26 points today, Connecticut's DeWanna Bonner surpassed Katie Smith (6,452) on the all-time list for regular season scoring (6,454)
After falling to the Mystics by 21 points on 6/22, today's 24-point loss marks the first time the Sky have lost consecutive games by 20+ points since 2009
NEXT UP: The Sky return home to take on the Los Angeles Sparks for the second time this season on 6/28. Chicago previously fell to Los Angeles on the road on 6/9 by a score of 62-77. That loss kick-started Chicago's current six-game losing streak. The Sparks lead the all-time series 30-11 over the Sky.
Last time out, Alanna Smith set career highs in points (19), blocks (5) and field goals made (8) while Elizabeth Williams chipped in 14 points and four blocks. Nneka Ogwumike leads the Sparks in scoring with 19.7 points per game this season and had 19 points against the Sky last game while Jordin Canada and Dearica Hamby contributed 16 points apiece.
The game against the Sparks tips off at 11 a.m. CT on Wednesday, June 28 inside Wintrust Arena. The game will be broadcasted on NBA TV.
KEY RUNS:
Sky went on a 14-6 run during the first quarter from 7:48-5:10
The Sun went on a 23-9 run from 8:33 to 1:32 in the second quarter
The Sun outscored the Sky 28-15 in the second quarter
The Sky opened the third quarter on an 13-4 run from 9:12 to 3:53 in the third quarter
The Sun closed out the game with an 18-5 run from 6:08 to 0:45 in the fourth quarter
KEY STATS:
After scoring nine points in the first quarter in the June 22 game vs. Washington, the Sky scored 14 points in the first 4:20 of today's game
The Sun's 17 first-half fast break points are the most in a half in the WNBA this season
The Sky shot 33.3% in the second quarter
At halftime, the Sky's bench had shot just 1 for 10 en route to two points while the Sun bench scored 13 in the first half
The Sky's bench, which ranked third in the league in points per game (20.5) entering today, finished the game with five points on 1 of 14 shooting
The Sun had a single game season high of 30 assists
The 30 assists from the Sun are the most against the Sky in a game this season (Previous: Liberty had 25 on 6/4)
The Sun had their season high for points in a game with 96 points
The Sky are 2-7 against the Eastern Conference this season
Connecticut scored 27 points off 19 Chicago turnovers while Chicago scored eight points off 15 Connecticut turnovers
The Sky are 1-8 when committing more turnovers than the opponent after today's game
Connecticut out-scored Chicago in the paint 54-38
Connecticut tied Indiana (6/6) for most field goals in a game this season against the Sky with 40 while having the most field goal attempts against the Sky by any opponent (80)
The Sun tied their season high for steals in a game with 12, which were the most by an opponent against the Sky this season
CHICAGO NOTES:
Elizabeth Williams reached 200 career starts
Four out of five Sky starters scored in double figures (Copper, Mabrey, C. Williams, Smith)
The Sky's 10 assists in the first quarter were their most in a quarter this season
The Sky's 61.9% shooting in the first quarter was their best shooting percentage in a first quarter this season
The last time the Sky scored more than 22 points in a quarter was June 15 vs. Indiana in the third quarter - Sky finished Q1 with 27 points
Kahleah Copper scored eight points in the first 7:09, surpassing her point total last game against Washington (7)
Copper's first-half point total (15) matched her total points scored across the last two games
Copper accounted for 15 of the Sky's 21 third quarter points (13 points, two points created from assists)
Copper surpassed Candice Dupree (808) for fourth on Sky all-time field goals made list with 812 after today's game
Every Sky starter scored at least six points
Smith's four second quarter offensive rebounds also surpassed her previous high for offensive boards in a quarter (Previous was two, eight times)
Smith has reached her single-game career high of two steals in 11 total games, including today. She has reached two steals in six games this season
Elizabeth Williams tied her season high with three steals
CONNECTICUT NOTES:
Connecticut's 17 first half fast break points were the most in a half in the WNBA this season
DeWanna Bonner passed Yolanda Griffith (529) for 13th on all-time steals list with 531 after today's game
Alyssa Thomas accounted for 11 of the Sun's 28 second quarter points (two points, nine points created from assists)
Thomas had four of her 12 assists in the second quarter, creating nine points in the second quarter
Thomas accounted for 11 of the Sun's 23 third quarter points (four points, seven points created from assists)
Thomas surpassed Asjha Jones (506) for third on the Sun's all-time offensive rebounding list with 509 after today's game
Thomas has had multiple steals along with five of her six triple-doubles, adding two steals to her triple-double today (Across the Timeline)
Thomas is the only player in league history to average 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 7+ assists in a season (Across the Timeline)
Thomas is the only player in league history to log three games with 10+ points, 10+ rebounds, 12+ assists and 2+ steals (Across the Timeline)
With two triple-doubles last year and two this year, Thomas is the first and only player in league history to have multiple triple-doubles in multiple regular seasons (Across the Timeline)
Thomas accounts for six of 22 triple-doubles in league history (27.3%)
DiJonai Carrington reached 50 career steals
Carrington tied her season high for points with 17
Carrington accounted for nine of Connecticut's 19 fourth quarter points (six points, three points created from assists)
Carrington tied her career high in assists (4) which she had previously set against Chicago on 8/7/2022
Bonner passed Tamika Catchings (1,705) for seventh on all-time three-point attempts list with 1,710 after today's game
Tiffany Hayes passed Becky Hammon (1,318) for 25th on the all-time free throw attempts list with 1,319 after today's game
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 25, 2023
- Brittney Griner Named 2023 WNBA All-Star Starter - Phoenix Mercury
- Game Notes: Dallas Wings 93, Los Angeles Sparks 83 - June 25 - Dallas Wings
- Postgame Notes: Liberty 89, Mystics 88 (OT) - New York Liberty
- Alyssa Thomas Makes WNBA and Franchise History in Sun's 96-72 Win over Sky - Connecticut Sun
- Sky's Kahleah Copper Tallies New Career-High 29 Points in 72-96 Loss to Sun - Chicago Sky
- Aliyah Boston Named WNBA All-Star Starter - Indiana Fever
- Nneka Ogwumike Named 2023 WNBA All-Star Starter - Los Angeles Sparks
- A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young Named WNBA All-Star Starters - Las Vegas Aces
- Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally Named 2023 WNBA All-Star Starters - Dallas Wings
- Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson and New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart Named Starters and Captains for 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game - WNBA
- Breanna Stewart Voted AT&T 2023 WNBA All-Star Game Captain - New York Liberty
- Phoenix Mercury and Head Coach Vanessa Nygaard Part Ways - Phoenix Mercury
- Robinson's Season Just Getting Started - Atlanta Dream
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