CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky busted the rust from their WNBA Olympic break with a home matchup against the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday. The game marked former All-Star guard Kahleah Copper's first time back at Wintrust Arena since she was traded to Phoenix in February of 2024. Copper did not shy away during her homecoming and lit the Sky up offensively. Rookie forward Angel Reese revealed Chicago's biggest void in Chicago's 85-65 loss.
“Even if our offensive shots aren't falling, we gotta play defense,” Reese told reporters during the postgame press conference. “I think they just made a lot of great shots. They took a lot of great shots, shot really well from the three. They shot 52 percent from the three, which is really, really good. So when a team does that, you have to knock shots down.”
Angel Reese notched an 11-point-15-rebound double-double, but it was not enough to stop the Mercury's red-hot offense.
Kahleah Copper finished the night with a game-high 29 points, going 3-for-5 on her three-pointers. The four-time All-Star picked up right where she left off before the Olympic break. She had stout help from Brittney Griner, who scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards.
Sky must find way to keep the offense afloat without Marina Mabrey
Chicago struggled to get into a consistent groove throughout Thursday night's game. They went for several minutes without scoring to start the matchup and could make shots against the tough veteran Mercury defense. Chicago trailed by as many as 27 points.
The elephant in the room the Sky were missing was the presence of Marina Mabrey. Before being traded to the Connecticut Sun, Mabrey was Chicago's second-leading scorer and top three-point shooter. The Sky hoped Rachel Banham would help fill the void with her deep-range ability. But she scored seven points on 30 percent shooting from the field and went 1-for-6 on three-pointers. Despite the down night, Banham feels good about getting into a groove in Chicago and gave an encouraging message.
“I didn't shoot great tonight, but I'm not worried. The offense is gonna come. It's our defense that we have to worry about,” Banham said.
Banham understands that is not just the individual performance that Chicago will need more of. As Angel Reese mentioned and Teresa Weatherspoon backed, the Sky need to stay consistent and disciplined on defense. Weatherspoon emphasized that Chicago needs to execute their defensive gameplan for all “40 minutes, not two minutes.”
The Sky look to avenge their post-Olympic break loss on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 17.
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