Washington Didn’t Steal A Win, the Chicago Sky Gift-Wrapped It
This was the game for the Chicago Sky to bounce-back and continue on their winning ways. They led the game as much as by 16 points during the contest. Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso were dominant and on a tag-teaming mission in the paint. They had the crowd.
The only problem is what they didn’t have, and that was a plan for Brittney Sykes.
Sykes led the Washington Mystics to a 79-72 road win and lit up the Sky like she was trying to trigger every fire alarm in Wintrust Arena. 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting, slicing through defenders like a hot knife through vibes. She closed like a pro, snagging an offensive rebound with 37 seconds left and resetting the offense like a vet playing chess while the Sky were stuck on checkers.
Brittney Sykes has been that player for a while now. But this was a different level—bucket-getting, clock-managing, takeover-mode type of night. Angel Reese took a moment to salute her opponent.
“Brit is special. She’s done a lot of great things in her career…she was one of my favorite players out of college (when Sykes was at Syracuse)…obviously playing with her in Unrivaled….she’s been an amazing leader on that team (Washington).”
Reese, to her credit, didn’t dodge the ugly part.
“For me, 7 TOs can’t happen. I know I’m trying to make good plays, and I’m looking for the right pass…I gotta be better. That’s on me.”
And it wasn’t just the what, it was the how many. Washington scored 40 points off 25 turnovers. That’s not just a red flag—it’s a stadium full of waving ones.
“They scored 40 pts on 25 turnovers and 7 of those are mine…we’re going to look at ourselves because we were up (most of the game)….They (Washington) just pressured us and pressure bust pipes…to score 40 pts off 25 TO’s is just unacceptable” said Reese.
Pressure? Busted. Pipes? Bursting.
If the Sky could only play 20-minute games, they might be title contenders.
But they came out of the halftime locker room like someone pressed snooze on the team alarm clock. Washington doubled them up 24–12 in the third. Game tied. Momentum gone. Poise? Missing in action.
Tyler Marsh knew it too.
“Tonight we started off with low energy in the 3rd quarter….I think overall we just didn’t have that energy consistently and the turnovers took a toll on us…we gotta do a better job of staying poised.”
And in the rare moments they did force stops, they didn’t finish the job.
“In the moment, you’re trying to stop the bleeding….I thought we got some important stops down the stretch…tonight it was about handling their pressure and capitalizing when we were able to get stops and we weren’t able to do that.”
Ariel Atkins didn’t sugarcoat it either—she just shrugged and told the truth.
“That’s what we have to figure out.”
Angel & Kamilla Went to War. Their Teammates Brought Pool Noodles.
Reese and Cardoso were once again the backbone, the paint bosses, the two post players you actually trust with the ball. They combined for 35 points and 20 rebounds.
But when your offense is as clunky as a bootleg DVD menu and you can’t even get into your sets cleanly, it doesn’t matter.
“We got to get better, in a flow, we can’t even get the ball to the wings…we gotta do a better job of PG’s bringing it down..we gotta figure out how to get into a flow…we’re making our life so hard” said Ariel Atkins.
The post battle was personal too. Chicago’s twin towers showed up, but they knew who they were up against.
“They have 3 great post places, Kiki, Shakira, Aaliyah…we took it personal to try and dominate the paint…for me just trying to be consistent and efficient as best as I can…I just gotta be consistent throughout…every game” said reese.
There were missed box-outs, missed steals, and missed chances—again. And nobody takes that harder than Angel.
“We’re losing 50/50 balls, we have to get those…we missed a rebound, or we missed a steal, and they scored on it every single time…coming down to the last shot at the end…I take that personal…we try and take it personal…but we have get better. We have to go out there and rebound” said Reese.
But how do you lead a young team while cleaning up everyone else’s mistakes? With patience, apparently.
“Just trying to be patient and give myself grace…I just have great people around me that put a lot of confidence in me…everyone is super transparent…I’m really happy to be here with this organization to be here” said reese.
This is a Sky team that should be better than 3–8.
And that’s what makes this even more frustrating for the staff and the fans. The blueprint is there. The core talent is there.
But right now, Chicago’s biggest opponent is… Chicago.
“Take care and handle the basketball, and when you don’t you get nights like this and it’s frustrating for sure…THROUGHOUT THE GAME AND AFTER THE GAME A LOT OF OUR MISTAKES ARE ON US…YOU CAN STILL MAINTAIN CONFIDENCE TO KNOW IT’S SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS…STAY POSITIVE BUT HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY” said marsh.
The urgency better come fast. Phoenix is next.
