CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky took on their second New York Liberty matchup of the 2024 season at Wintrust Arena Tuesday night. The Sky overcame a double-figure deficit and led by one going into the third quarter. However, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu spearheaded New York to an 88-75 victory. Marina Mabrey led the post-game press conference by discussing the intricacies of Chicago's tough loss.
The ‘meltdown' that led to the Sky's spoiled comeback against the Liberty
Mabrey leads Chicago in scoring on the season, but she ended the game with what seemed like a quiet 15 points. Outside of individual play, Chicago's defense gave in to New York's ferocious offensive attack, which quelled their comeback effort. Mabrey revealed the Sky's fourth-quarter “meltdown” that led to their downfall.
“I mean, you have to understand who you're playing,” Mabrey said after the game.
The sixth-year guard noted Breanna Stewart's MVP-caliber play and called Sabrina Ionescu “one of the best shooters in the world”.
“You know, you can't melt down down against them. At the end of the day, we melted down in the fourth quarter, and anytime you're gonna play a team like this, you can't win like that” Mabrey revealed. In addition, she said Chicago has to maintain composure against veteran teams like New York.
The Liberty got off to a blistering start. Breanna Stewart scored 15 points in the first quarter. The reigning WNBA MVP got to her spots and scored with ease. She ended the night with a dominant 33 points and 14 rebounds. Her running mate Sabrina Ionescu was similarly dominant. The sharpshooting guard scored 24 points and went 4-for-10 on three-pointers.
Not all was poor from Chicago on Tuesday night. Teresa Weatherspoon and Chennedy Carter spoke on some positive takeaways from their tough battle.
Chicago doubles down on commitment to improvement
Chennedy Carter once again made a tremendous impact off the bench. She led all Chicago scorers with 16 points and amassed an impressive three steals on the night. Carter revealed a key mentality that should help the Sky improve their team's success overall.
“These kind of games just make me kind of lock in on team stuff. We have a lot to get better at, so I typically just focus on what I have to do when I come in [off the bench]. But at the same time, I have to find a way to get us all on the same page. Sometimes we have a little slippage, and we can't do that. So my focus is not just on my play but our play as a team,” Carter said.
Carter will continue to be huge for Chicago's second unit as a go-to scorer and energetic defender.
Finally, head coach Teresa Weatherspoon believes the Sky have ample opportunities to improve despite their fourth-quarter collapse to the Liberty.
“We'll be fine. Just got to get our reps up and what we do in the execution of our offense, getting those open looks, catch-and-shoots that we are very good at. We have some incredible shooters on this team and we'll get better every single game,” Weatherspoon said.
“We'll get back in the gym and do what we have to do. It's not over until you say it's over. Now it's time to fix it. We'll get back in and we will fix it. We will be better. You can count on that.”
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