Before 19,601 strong at the United Center, the Chicago Sky sought redemption as they took on the Indiana Fever.
Redemption from the nearly 40-point loss they suffered against the Seattle Storm on Thursday. Some expected another demoralizing loss considering who was not on the floor. Angel Reese was out due to back problems. Ariel Atkins was out with a leg injury. Hailey Van Lith was out with an ankle injury. All in all, five players were out. Michaela Onyenwere was available to play after sitting out on Thursday with a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark was still out for the Fever. But they maintained their core of Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Sydney Colson, Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Howard.
The Sky jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game. But soon thereafter, the Fever took over the first quarter led by the exploits of Mitchell, who would carry the team on her back for the entirety of the game. After the first quarter, the Sky trailed 26-13 and had nine turnovers to their name, a consistent problem for the team all season. The Fever capitalized by scoring 14 points off of those turnovers.
The Sky began to regroup in the second quarter and managed to claw their way back into the game. They did so by converting on good shoots, hitting at the free throw line, scoring inside and shooting from the 3-point line. Particularly, it was Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen and Kia Nurse who were hitting those shots from beyond the arc. Kamilla Cardoso was doing the dirty work in the paint.
As a result, the Sky trailed 51-39 at the half after keeping the second quarter competitive at 26-25.
In the third quarter, the Sky began to reclaim the momentum. They went on a 13-5 run and at one point found themselves trailing just 56-55 thanks to a big jumper by Maddy Westbeld. But there was no stopping the Fever as Mitchell and company regained the momentum and found themselves leading 75-61 after three quarters. Though the Sky went on a 10-2 run midway through the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough as the Fever sealed the win, 93-78.
Mitchell led all scorers with 35 points. Boston and Makayla Timpson each scored 14 points.
However, the Sky were upbeat in defeat, pleased with the effort they put into it. Altogether, they did turn the ball over 20 times, but they outshot the Fever 40 percent to 37.9 percent on 3-pointers, a major breakthrough for a team that has struggled in that category.
Much of that long-distance success was driven by Banham, who…
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