LOS ANGELES — The Sky had just come out of a timeout in the second quarter Sunday when Courtney Vandersloot, a 14-year veteran known for her deft ballhandling skills, dribbled the ball off her foot and into the hands of Sparks guard Odyssey Sims, who drove the length of the court before being fouled by Vandersloot.
Sims made one of two free throws for a 38-25 lead, one of the 17 points the Sparks scored off the Sky’s 17 turnovers in their 91-78 victory at Crypto.com Arena. Turnovers have been a primary factor in the Sky’s 0-3 start.
They committed a combined 40 in their first two games, lopsided losses to the Fever and the defending champion Liberty, and they had seven more turnovers than the Sparks.
“Turnovers have been our Achilles’ heel; they continue to be something we struggle with and have to work on,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. “It’s [the third consecutive] game where we had more possessions than our opponent, and we’ve come out on the wrong side of it. Those possessions are valuable. . . . We have to be able to handle the pressure and manage the ball.”
Guard Kia Nurse had a team-high five turnovers, and forward Angel Reese had four, perhaps the only blemish in a solid all-around effort by Reese, who scored a team-high 13 points to go with 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“I thought we were a little more disruptive today than we were in the first two games, but we did allow their runs to last too long,” Sky forward Elizabeth Williams said. “I think that’s what ultimately hurt us, along with the turnovers.”
Paint by numbers
There was at least one positive statistic for the Sky: They outscored the Sparks 50-28 in the paint, with Reese and Kamilla Cardoso (12 points) scoring in double figures and Williams adding nine points off the bench. On the flip side, the Sky made only four of 20 three-pointers.
“Our guards made it a point to attack downhill and get to the paint; that was an area we thought we could use to our advantage,” Marsh said. “I think 50 points in the paint is something we want to continue to see. It was a point of emphasis coming into the game, and we did a decent job of it, but we have to combine that with knocking down some shots from the outside.”
Notes
Marsh said the Sky have not heard back from the league regarding its investigation into the May 17 incident at Indiana in which a fan allegedly made racist and hateful comments toward Reese.
“It’s kind of in their hands,” Marsh said, “and we’ve been as cooperative as possible from that standpoint.”
† Sky guards Hailey Van Lith and Moriah Jefferson missed the game. Van Lith has an ankle injury that she was able to play through in the first two games, and Jefferson has a leg injury that has sidelined her for the first three games.