The Sky needed a signature win against a good team. They got it by beating the best one.
They took down the first-place Lynx 87-81 on Saturday at Wintrust Arena, playing with a looseness and rhythm that reflected the chemistry they’ve been building in recent weeks.
“I feel like I was at the blacktop,” forward Angel Reese said. “Everyone came in and balled.”
Reese had her eighth consecutive double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She outplayed MVP front-runner Napheesa Collier in the first half and flashed some new wrinkles in her game — including handling the ball in the open floor, which led to a pull-up jumper.
“[Reese’s] in-and-out pull-up was crazy,” guard Ariel Atkins said.
That pull-up is something the Sky have been trying to add to Reese’s repertoire, though it hasn’t shown up much in games until now.
Atkins, meanwhile, snapped out of a scoring lull with one of her best performances of the season. She went 8-for-10 from the field in the first half and finished with 27 points.
But the real breakthrough was that the Sky didn’t just hang around with a top team; they finished the job.
They led from the end of the first quarter on, built a 15-point cushion and had a season-high 57 points by halftime. The Lynx made their runs, but the Sky never relinquished the lead.
“For us to be able to put together a first half like we did tonight, it allows you to absorb the runs they were able to go on for the rest of the game,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said.
The key, as Marsh and Reese put it, was not letting one mistake spiral into two or three. In other words: not unraveling.
Even when an old demon — turnovers — returned. Reese had six; Atkins had four. But they offset the mistakes with timely plays.
Atkins made two big shots late, and Reese sealed the victory with a stop on Collier in the last minute.
“We’ve let a lot of games slip out of our hands,” Reese said. “We learned we can’t let anything else other than ourselves take us out of the game. We were super locked in today.”
It took the Sky awhile to figure out how to compete. Through their first 12 games, they were getting blown out by top teams and coughing up leads to struggling ones. They weren’t in games.
Marsh kept preaching patience — it takes time to install a new system with players still getting to know each other. And it’s starting to pay off. The Sky had been more competitive in recent weeks, picking up two wins against the 11th-place Sparks and keeping things close against tougher opponents.
They had learned how to compete but were still figuring out how to win.
In two previous games against the Mystics and Lynx, giving up offensive rebounds down the stretch cost them. Both came down to the final possession.
“The first time [against the Lynx], we had them, and we let officials and other things get in the way,” Reese said. “I was like: ‘We’re not gonna let the officials get their hands on this game.’ ’’
Frustration with officiating boiled over in both losses, but even that was a sign of growth. Teams only get that upset when the game is actually within reach.
Now they’ve got the win they’ve been looking for. But the Sky won’t have long to savor it; they face the Lynx again Monday night at home.
“I think part of being a good team is being able to replicate when we have nights like this,” Marsh said.
Are the 7-13 Sky on the cusp of becoming one? The rematch Monday will offer a clue.
