WNBA: Sky get first win behind career high from Kamilla Cardoso

The Chicago Sky played with a purpose on Thursday night as they staved off the Dallas Wings for first win of the season, 97-92.

After starting the year 0-4, the Sky relieved themselves of that burden. They were up against a team in similar standing to them: a young team looking to cultivate an identity. The Sky combined their veteran poise and youthful energy to shoot effectively, protect the ball, play solid defense, crash the boards and manage the clock in the waning moments.

Chicago got off to a hot start, leading 29-19 after the first quarter. They held onto the momentum through first half, up 49-43 at the break despite a resurgence by the Wings. In the third quarter, the Wings came back thanks to the exploits of Arike Ogunbowale, Paige Bueckers and DiJonai Carrington. They outscored the Sky 30-19 to lead 73-68. Ogunbowale, who finished with a game-high 37 points, was carrying Dallas on her shoulders by scoring at will. Bueckers and Carrington each finished with 15 points, with Bueckers adding eight assists.

The back-and-forth battle commenced in the fourth quarter with no real sense of who was in control. Ultimately, the Sky outscored the Wings 29-19 and made some key buckets down the stretch.

Angel Reese scored on a cutting layup to put the Sky up 93-92 with 1:21 left. Courtney Vandersloot drove to the hole and scored on a driving finger roll with 46 seconds to make it 95-92.

After a miss by Ogunbowale, Kamilla Cardoso grabbed the rebound and the Sky called a timeout. With 32 seconds left, they moved the ball around and spaced the floor, with the ball finding its way into the hands of Ariel Atkins. Atkins pulled up and sunk the shot to put the Sky up 97-92 with 16 seconds left.

In all, the Sky finished the game on a 16-8 run.

Though they shot 46.8 percent from the field compared to the Wings’ 51.4 percent, the Sky earned a considerable amount of their points in the paint, on the perimeter and at the free throw line. They shot a respectable 41.1 percent from beyond the arc and 76.5 percent from the foul line.

Kamilla Cardoso finished with a career-high 23 points and shot 69.2 percent from the field. A huge proportion of those points came in the paint. The Sky made it an intentional point to feed her the ball, with many saying the more they get out of her the better they will be.

She described Thursday’s performance as the epitome of Chicago Sky basketball. “It means a lot to us,”Cardoso said. “I think we were hungry for a win and we were finally able to come together and we played like the Chicago Sky today and got that win.”

Ariel Atkins was all over the floor at both ends. She finished with 17 points, dished out six assists and grabbed eight rebounds. Atkins shot 50 percent from the field and hit two 3-pointers.

Courtney Vandersloot not only had 13 points, but she also became the Sky’s all-time leading scorer with a pull-up jumper with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter. Vandersloot has 3,728 points and 1,394 field goals in her career with the Sky, surpassing her wife, Allie Quigley.

Beyond the record, she was more satisfied with getting the win, saying after the game:

It was a big win for us. Big night all around. I think we came in with this hyper focus knowing we are gonna play them again, just wanting to set the tone. Kind of harped on it, make winning plays, and we’re gonna continue to do that.

Angel Reese was solid on the boards with nine in total. Though she struggled to score, Reese put the Sky up by a point twice with crucial layups at the 4:18- and 1:21-minute marks in the fourth quarter.

Prior to the game, Reese complimented head coach Tyler Marsh for creating space for her to expand the scope of her game, explaining:

I think for me its about patience. Obviously, I haven’t played this role since I was in high school. I was the number one wing coming out of high school. I want to get back into that, being super comfortable. I know that I still need to get rebounds. There’s no way I can’t get those rebounds because I need to help the team. So me being able to do that, I think he trusts in me and believes in me. I think for me, I just got to tone down the turnovers, just being able to pass it to my players and being able to get them the right pass, get the shot, and not turn the ball over. He’s had a lot of patience with me and when Courtney goes off the court, I can be able to step up and be that point guard. So it’s been great.

Chicago also got solid play from their bench. Rebecca Allen added 13 points and four rebounds, including three 3-pointers. Michaela Onyenwere shot 60 percent from the field and scored seven points. The Sky outscored the Wings 30-13 in bench points.