Sky dismantle league-best Sun; 2nd place Mystics up next
There was some celebrating.
At least one night's worth.
"We're going to enjoy this tonight, because we work hard enough to enjoy it for one night," Chicago Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot said with a wry smile while sitting next to her head coach James Wade. "But then we're going to get back to the drawing board to see what we can do to beat Washington.
"As soon as I got to the locker room tonight, I said, 'We've got Washington coming in next.'"
On Sunday night, the Chicago Sky came up with one of its biggest wins in recent history, dismantling the first-place team in the WNBA, the Connecticut Sun, 93-75 in front of an appreciative hometown crowd of 5,607 fans.
The Sun entered the game with just one loss on the season and a seven-game winning streak.
Connecticut is now 9-2 overall and still in first place while the Sky improves to 6-3 with wins in five of their last six games.
Despite Wade being in his first year as head coach and the roster featuring a handful of young and inexperienced players in key roles, the Sky, in third place in the WNBA, is making a loud statement across the league early in the 2019 season.
"I think this just emphasizes what we already know, which is that we're the team to beat," said Sky reserve forward Cheyenne Parker, who pumped in a game- and new career-high 22 points to go along with 6 rebounds. "I don't think everyone realizes the potential that this team has, and we haven't even reached our maximum potential yet. I think this statement says that we're going to be a force to be reckoned with."
Parker played a vital role in not only providing an offensive punch off the bench, she also teamed with fellow big Jantel Lavender to make life difficult inside for Connecticut star center Jonquel Jones. The 6-foot-6 Jones is a leading contender for WNBA most valuable player, topping the league in rebounding (11.6 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg) and ranking fourth in scoring (17.3 ppg).
Jones still managed a double-double against the Sky (11 points and 10 rebounds), but she didn't get many easy looks and Parker and Lavender (8 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds) were physical with her and never let her get comfortable in the paint.
The Sky defense was tough overall, too, keeping Connecticut's shooting percentage in the 30s for most of the game while forcing 15 turnovers. That prompted Wade to acknowledge that this might be the Sky's best defensive effort of the season.
One of Wade's top priorities when he took over in the off-season was defense since the Sky ranked last in the WNBA in defense last season.
"We are going to appreciate this win because it's a big win for us and we appreciate every (big) defensive effort we have because it builds us," Wade said. "Maybe one of the best (defensive efforts), I'm not sure if it was the best. I'll have to watch the film, but we were really good tonight. I'm not going to shy away from that."
The Sky, which shot 53 percent from the field and pushed its lead to a much as 24 points in the second half, got double-figure scoring out of five players, also including former DePaul guard Allie Quigley with 14 points, Vandersloot with 13 points (7 assists) and center Stefanie Dolson and forward Diamond DeShields with 12 points apiece.
Alyssa Thomas topped the Sun with 13 points while Jasmine Thomas had 12 points and Rachel Banham added 10 points off the bench.
Next up for the Sky is the Washington Mystics in a day game (11 a.m.) at Wintrust Arena on Wednesday. A win there would give the Sky back-to-back victories against the two top teams in the WNBA.
The Mystics, led by former Sky superstar Elena Delle Donne, are in second place with a 7-3 record.