LOS ANGELES — The key message from head coach Tyler Marsh when the Sky played the Sparks earlier this week was: “Angel, don’t let Azura [Stevens] shoot it.” Stevens, a sharp-shooting post, lit them up for four three-pointers in the first half. The Sky made the adjustment in the second half and won.
The message from Sparks coach Lynne Roberts to Stevens on Sunday in the fourth quarter likely was something similar: Stop letting Angel drive. Reese dominated the final period, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and finishing with a season-high 24 points in a 92-85 victory for the Sky.
With center Kamilla Cardoso away on national team duty, Reese is getting more touches in the low post. And she’s capitalizing.
“I went through a storm through the first eight games where I couldn’t finish,” Reese said. “It was frustrating, but I trusted my work. I’m finally finishing efficiently and it’s leading to wins.”
Against the Sparks, it didn’t matter who they threw at her. Stevens, Dearica Hamby and Emma Cannon all struggled to contain her.
She added seven assists and 16 rebounds to her 24-point night.
But Marsh, who enjoys getting creative with Reese, sees past the numbers.
“Her ability to push in transition, initiate offense, her rebounding — she does everything,” Marsh said.
In only her second season with the franchise, Reese passed Stefanie Dolson to enter the top 10 in Sky history for total rebounds. That was fast. The other key to the win besides Reese’s performance was three-point shooting.
The Sky’s so-called floor spacers have been cold for most of the season, making it hard for posts to operate in the paint.
But in the second quarter alone, the Sky got two threes from Rebecca Allen, two from Rachel Banham and one from Kia Nurse.
They finished 11-for-26 from three-point range as a team — their second consecutive game hovering around the 40% mark.
“Sometimes you gotta shoot yourself out of it,” Ariel Atkins said. “When we see one go in, it gets contagious.”
It’s a key trend to watch. The whole idea behind the Sky’s offseason roster moves was to create space for the posts through three-point shooting. But it works the other way, too. Marsh credited strong post play for opening things up for the shooters.
“It started with Elizabeth’s and Angel’s aggression getting into the paint,” he said. “They set the tone early, and it opened up some outside shots for us.”
Limiting Sparks star Kelsey Plum was another part of the plan. Would she go 0-for-6
from three again, like she did in the last meeting? That cold shooting helped the Sky steal that one, and Atkins said before the game they had to replicate it.
“We know the head of their snake is Plum,” she told the Sun-Times. “We gotta make her uncomfortable.”
They did just enough. Plum got her 22 points, but inefficiently, shooting just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.
“We’ve come out with energy and are communicating way better,” Atkins said.
The Sky certainly have shown more fight lately, winning two of their last three games. And while Sunday was just their fifth win of the season, it’s a free-for-all at the bottom of the standings. The win bumped them up from 12th to 10th place and secured the tiebreaker over the Sparks.
Is a playoff push back in the picture? It’s at least not as dead as it looked a week ago.