NEW YORK — The Sky were eliminated from playoff contention, but the project of the future — their Twin Towers — looked promising Thursday night.
Franchise pillars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso dominated the paint against the second-place Liberty, each getting a double-double in the Sky’s 91-85 victory.
The Sky outrebounded the Liberty 42-27, exploiting one of the few mismatches in their favor. The Liberty rank at the bottom of the league in rebounding percentage, while the Sky are at the top.
Cardoso delivered possibly her best game of the season, missing only one shot on her way to 22 points and 15 rebounds.
“It’s no small task to outplay JJ [Jonquel Jones] and [Emma] Meesseman,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. “Those are two of the best to play in this league.”
Cardoso’s rebounding has taken off in the second half of the season, and she’s ranked sixth in the league. She also had five assists and helped facilitate the offense.
“I think that’s one thing that’s underrated about me,” Cardoso said of her passing. “I like to get assists.”
Marsh has preached all season that his bigs’ facilitation is their most important attribute, and it came through against the Liberty. With less than three minutes left and the Sky trailing by two, Reese, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds, fed Cardoso down low to tie the game at 83.
A key for the Sky was stringing together stops late. All season, they’ve struggled defensively, but they dug in at crunch time against one of the league’s most dangerous offenses.
“We knew who the ball was gonna get to — Sabrina [Ionescu] — and kudos to our guards for playing so well against her,” Reese said.
The Liberty were hot from three-point range in the first half, making 10. But the Sky held them to 3-for-14 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. Guard Ariel Atkins drew the assignment on Ionescu and frustrated her with physicality, forcing her into rushed looks. Ionescu, sixth in the league in made threes, did not make one.
Marsh praised his players’ composure down the stretch, noting they stayed present in the moment — impressive for a group that hasn’t had much experience in close games this year.
What excites him most lately, though, is having much of his roster back healthy. Reese, Cardoso and Atkins have all missed extended stretches, so he hasn’t gotten a clear view of what this roster could’ve been.
This game served as a reintroduction, with Reese suiting up for her second consecutive game after missing time rehabbing a back injury. The result: a win over an elite team on its home floor.
“New York is a team that makes you feel like you’ve got to get everything back in one possession because of the potency they possess from an offensive standpoint,” Marsh said. “We didn’t get overwhelmed.”
Before the game, Reese reflected on what veterans have told her about the path to success in the league: Teams improve as their young players develop. If she and Cardoso keep trending upward, it’s a reason for optimism — even in a season that has otherwise fallen short.
But Marsh isn’t looking too far ahead just yet. With nine games left, he’s still focused on a strong finish.
“We feel as a team that we’ve kind of underachieved this year,” he said. “So there’s still reason and motivation to get up and finish this season out strong.”