The Chicago Sky (11-18) opened the second half of the WNBA season with a 1-4 record, with their only win coming on August 17 against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sky are currently ranked 8th in the WNBA rankings.
The franchise made a move during the Olympic break and traded Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for draft capital and the two guards Moriah Jefferson and Rachel Banham.
Despite all of these changes, the Sky still found ways to stay in the game until the end, paving an interesting path for the team to reach the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.
Kamilla Cardoso’s brilliant developmental growth
The No. 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft had an interesting rookie season that began with an injury that sidelined her for a full month. Cardoso then came back and was immediately made the starter when Elizabeth Williams went down with a torn meniscus. What fans saw from Cardoso in the first half of the WNBA season was a rookie finding her way into the professional league.
Cardoso has shown in the second half of the season that she is a rookie who is now comfortable in the league and is improving her game to meet expectations for the rest of 2024 and beyond. Since the start of the second half, Cardoso is averaging 12.9 points per game, along with 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Her numbers before the Olympic break? 8.1 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 1.1 blocks per game.
Cardoso has found ways to finish around the basket while slowly but surely expanding her shooting range. Her success on defense has limited other teams’ strong bigs, including A’ja Wilson. Cardoso blocked 5 of Wilson’s shots in the Sky’s heartbreaking 77-75 loss to the Aces on August 25 – something Wilson has never experienced in her entire WNBA career.
“(Extending my shooting range) is something I’ve been working on, and my teammates and coaches have shown so much confidence in me. They made me feel like I can just start shooting,” Cardoso said after the game against Connecticut on Aug. 23.
“She’s just more comfortable,” head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said after the game against Connecticut. “She’s up for the challenge. She’s not afraid to shoot the ball, and I wouldn’t want her to be. She’s confident, and we’ve tried to instill a lot of confidence in her as a team and her teammates. She’s helped this team win, and it’s great and impressive to see.”
Always fight until the final whistle
Apart from the two clear defeats against the Phoenix Mercury – 85:65 on August 15 and 86:68 on August 18 – all other games since the Olympic break were either decided by single digits or only in the last seconds.
Against Connecticut on August 23, the Sky managed to limit the Sun’s offense in the third quarter and beat Connecticut 29-18. They led by 3 points in the final 90 seconds before the Sun tied the game at the free throw line, 82-80.
Against Las Vegas, Chennedy Carter converted a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to tie the game before A’ja Wilson sank a throw-in from the sideline shortly before time expired.
Against Los Angeles, the Sky defeated the Sparks 26-12 in the fourth quarter and took the 90-86 victory on August 17.
“We don’t have a towel to throw in,” Weatherspoon said after the loss to the Sun. “We have nothing to lose on this team. We don’t give up, no matter what it looks like. We always believe we’re in it and we can win.”
“We’re young. We’re growing, but we’re competitors. These young women are incredible competitors and they want to win. They showed incredible grit in the second half to win a game. I can be proud of that.”
That fighting spirit and resilience have been part of the Sky’s identity since the beginning of the season. Of the 29 games they have played, the Sky have only lost 6 games by double digits. In all other games, the margin has been within 9 points. Chicago has found ways to stay in the game until the end; they just don’t finish on the right side of the win/loss column.
“It sucks,” Sky forward Michaela Onyenwere said after the loss to the Aces. “To be in a situation where we could have won the game two times in a row and then we didn’t win, it’s frustrating as an athlete and a competitor. We really don’t have time to dwell on it. We’re in the home stretch of the season. Right now we’re still in the playoff region and we want to continue to be that way. It’s a cliche, but we really have to look back on it and move on and learn from what we did in that game.”
Postseason possible?
With 11 games remaining against some tough opponents, the road to the postseason will be tough. They have three games against top-five teams in September, plus a few must-win games against the bottom half of the WNBA standings.
As a reminder, the top 8 teams at the end of the WNBA season will qualify for the postseason. This is the status as of August 26:
- New York Liberty – won
- Connecticut Sun – won
- Minnesota Lynx – won
- Seattle Storm
- Las Vegas Aces
- Phoenix Mercury
- Indiana fever
- Chicago sky
- Atlanta Dream
- Washington Mystics
- Dallas Wings
- Los Angeles Lakers
If the Sky want to make it to the playoffs for the sixth year in a row, they need to win against Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, Indiana and, above all, Atlanta. The Atlanta Dream are in 9th place, right behind the Sky, and the season series is tied 1-1. Whoever wins this game on September 17th will most likely book their ticket to the WNBA playoffs.
Before that, they have home games this week against the No. 10 Washington Mystics on August 28 and the No. 7 Indiana Fever on August 30. Those are two games the Sky must win if they don’t want to rely on other teams to determine their postseason fate. A win against the Fever would not only give the Sky some breathing room, but it would also solidify Angel Reese’s chances of winning Rookie of the Year.
After this week, the Sky face tough away tests against the Minnesota Lynx (No. 3), who have already secured their playoff spot, on September 1 and the Las Vegas Aces (No. 5) on September 3. These next four games will determine whether the Sky should watch how the Atlanta Dream perform over the next four weeks.
If the Sky can outperform these top 5 teams with some surprise wins and beat Indiana, the Sky actually have a chance to move up to 7th place.
Statistics and notes
- Angel Reese became the first WNBA player in history to have multiple games with over 10 offensive and defensive rebounds in a game against LV.
- Angel Reese recorded her 22nd double-double, setting the WNBA rookie record for most double-doubles in a season against LV.
- Angel Reese became the first WNBA player in history to have 20+ rebounds in two consecutive games against CT.
- Angel Reese moved up to fourth place on the WNBA rookie rebound list of all time with 332 rebounds against PHX (18.8.)
