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The Sky manhandled the Sun 88-64 on Wednesday night, led by Kamilla Cardoso’s efficient performance. She scored 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
With the win, they avoided being the second Sky team with a single-win season since the franchise’s founding year in 2006, improving to 10-30.
Cardoso got out to a strong start with eight easy points in the first quarter and the Sky executed sharply all game. Five players finished in double digits — Angel Reese, Rachel Banham, Kia Nurse and Elizabeth Williams among them — and the team dished out 22 assists.
The ball movement was a big positive. So was Cardoso’s performance, given that her growth is one of the remaining stakes of the season that really matter, since the Sky have been eliminated from playoff contention. Though her season hasn’t gone exactly how she wanted, she told the Sun-Times on Tuesday that she feels she’s been playing better since the All-Star break, and she has.
Coaches and teammates have praised her improved rebounding, passing and communication. She’s averaging 13.3 points and 8.4 rebounds on the season and has looked more poised against physical frontcourts.
The Sun, on the other hand, looked depleted. Guard Bria Hartley tore her meniscus and is out for the year, and forward Aneesah Morrow went down in the second quarter and did not return. The Sky held them to 27 points in the first half. Only Tina Charles and Saniya Rivers scored in double-digits for the Sun.
In some ways, the twenty-point drubbing was the tamest matchup between these teams all season. Previous meetings had been marked by scuffles and outbursts, but this time head coach Tyler Marsh quipped before tip that his main goal was to “not get ejected.” He achieved that goal.
Reese to receive suspension
The Sky didn’t escape this one in total peace though. Reese picked up her eighth technical foul and with it a one-game suspension, which would come against the Fever on Friday.
She was called for a hostile act with one minute left in the second quarter. Marsh has said the organization has tried to appeal other calls but to no avail.
The suspension comes amid recent comments from Reese that signal her dissatisfaction with the organization.
Draft lottery odds shaping up
With four games remaining, lottery odds are basically set. The Sky will have the second-best odds (25%) at landing the No. 1 pick. The only problem is that they owe that pick to the Lynx. Instead, the Sky will collect the Sun’s first-rounder, which carries a 7% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 9.3% shot at the No. 2 slot.
