The college rivalry has now become a professional WNBA dogfight between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. While they are no longer the colors of Iowa and LSU, their new teams have found a way to make their on-court animosity more interesting. The Chicago Sky saw the blazing-hot Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena and their war of baskets went to the wire. After the 88 to 87 win by the home team, a rookie spoke out and aired how pumped up she was.
“I'm a dog, you can't teach that,” were the words that Angel Reese exclaimed.
Rightfully so, the Sky rookie led her team in two of the major statistical categories in this triumph. Reese knocked down 8 of her 12 field goal attempts. She also went 9 for 11 on the charity stripe for 25 points. Moreover, she also had an insane night of controlling the boards. Not even NaLyssa Smith and Aliyah Boston could stop her from recording 16 total rebounds. Three of them also gave the Sky second chance possessions which placed the Fever in a lot of jeopardy down the line.
It was also Angel Reese's drive which led to a layup at the 53-second mark that put the Sky up 86 to 84 that made the biggest difference. Overall, her game was on point against Caitlin Clark's Fever. While there were some missteps forced against her like those three turnovers, these growing pains are likely going to be fixed down the line.
The Sky also had a lot of depth in this matchup. Another rookie showed up for them and she goes by the name of Kamila Cardoso. The 2022 and 2024 national champion also racked up a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Her playmaking off the post also allowed the Sky to get three assists. Then, Chennedy Carter rounded out the Sky's scoring leaders with 23 points. Her bucket-getting chops helped her go 8 for 12 on the field as well.
It was an intense fight but what happened on the other end of the floor?
Fever's Caitlin Clark has an offensive masterclass vs. the Sky
The idea was to get everyone involved in this matchup against the Sky. So, that is exactly what Clark did as she played the role of floor general throughout 40 very big and exhausting minutes. She dropped 13 assists in this matchup which is a career-high in that statistical category.
But, the scoring aspect did not come as easily to her due to how the Sky's blitzes worked. Clark only got 11 points in the first three quarters but decided to clutch up the fourth to make it 17 points for the night. She went 5 for 9 on the field and the ones that found the bottom of the net were shots from three-point range.
It was not just on offense where she thrived. The Sky had a hard time assessing their passing lanes because of Clark's insane acumen to steal the ball. She recorded four steals in the game which ties her career-high too. While this might be a loss for her team, there is so much to look forward to in her development as a two-way star in the WNBA.
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