Sky tops Storm in home opener, 83-79
Scoring points won't be a problem for the Chicago Sky in 2019.
The team prefers to push pace and is built around a stable of sharpshooters and elusive slashers who can all put the ball in the basket with the best of them.
Pretty, efficient offense was on display on Saturday night at Wintrust Arena and that scored big-time points with the more than 7,000 fans that came out for the Sky's home opener, an 83-79 win for the Sky over the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm.
"Any time I get to go fast, I like it," Sky second-year guard Diamond DeShields said of the Sky's up-tempo offense. "That's my strength. But not only is it my strength, it caters to all of our strengths. (This offense) is a good chance for us to showcase our athleticism and speed."
DeShields, voted the most athletic player in the WNBA by league general managers, finished with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The Sky got a game-high 25 points from former DePaul star Allie Quigley and 10 points and 11 assists from point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who led the WNBA in assists last season.
The victory is the first of the season for the Sky, which lost its opener to Minnesota on the road last week. It is also the first victory for new head coach James Wade.
"We had the lead for the majority of the game even though (Seattle) would sometimes come back into it," Wade said. "We never wavered or got back onto our heels too much. It was a game for us to win and we took it against a good team.
"We didn't succumb to pressure. We kept a level head and got stops when we needed stops and scored when we needed to score. All in all, I think it's a game to learn from."
Seattle is having to learn to play through adversity.
The defending champs are not only temporarily without head coach Dan Hughes, who is recovering from cancer treatments, but they are also without last year's league most valuable player Breanna Stewart (out for the season, Achilles tendon) and legendary point guard Sue Bird (knee).
Natasha Howard and former Niles West and Notre Dame star Jewell Loyd have both stepped up their games for the Storm. They scored 21 and 17 points respectively. The Storm also got 16 points from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.