NEW YORK — Within the first three minutes of the Sky’s game Tuesday at the Liberty, center Kamilla Cardoso was on the bench and star Angel Reese was seething over a double-digit deficit. It was a disastrous start and didn’t get much better.
The defending champs routed the Sky 85-66 at Barclays Center — they led by 34 in the fourth quarter — and left them with plenty to figure out as the Sky try to steer their season out of its spiral. The Liberty are 9-0, including two wins over the Sky by a combined 44 points.
The Liberty took a 12-0 lead as the Sky started 0-for-4 from the field with three turnovers and two offensive fouls. They led 52-32 at halftime and never let the Sky get closer than 16 after that.
Reese was a bright spot and played her best game of the season with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go with 11 rebounds for her 30th double-double in 42 career games. Reese became the fastest WNBA player to reach 30 double-doubles.
She showed flashes of expanding her offensive game by hitting a midrange jumper and her second three-pointer of the season in the first quarter and rolled from there.
She was frustrated, though, for committing five turnovers.
“We definitely came out and played hard — didn’t play as smart,” Reese said. “Five turnovers, I have to get that down and be better for this team. All of us are going to look ourselves in the mirror.”
Ariel Atkins, the Sky’s leading scorer this season, was next with 11 points. No one else reached double figures.
Coach Tyler Marsh pulled Cardoso just 1:43 into the game because he wanted more energy from her.
“She showed that energy the rest of the way through,” Marsh said
Cardoso finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Liberty got 23 points from Sabrina Ionescu and 18 from Breanna Stewart.
Shaking it up
Marsh shuffled his rotation in the team’s first game without point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Saturday.
He opted for veteran guard Rachel Banham in the lineup over rookie Hailey Van Lith and swapped out wing Kia Nurse for hot-shooting backup Rebecca Allen.
But Allen went 0-for-3 and didn’t score. Nurse was solid off the bench with eight points. Banham had three points and five assists in 27 minutes, while Van Lith had five and two in 16.
Celebration nixed
The Liberty had scheduled a tribute to Vandersloot, who played for them the last two seasons, and were going to present her with a 2024 championship ring. That was scrapped after her season-ending injury.
It was bad from the beginning and somehow kept getting worse for the Sky, who fell to 2-6. Plus, a look at coach Tyler Marsh’s lineup changes and more.
By Jason Lieser
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
After an offseason driven by the goal of competing for a playoff spot and holding their ground against anybody in the WNBA, little has gone as the Sky planned.
By Jason Lieser
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Quigley had been the Sky’s all-time leading scorer before her wife, Courtney Vandersloot, took the record last month.
By Jason Lieser
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
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