Ariel Atkins poured in 26 points and Angel Reese racked up a season-high 14 points with nine rebounds as the Chicago Sky defeated the short-handed Dallas Wings 94-83 on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
The Sky (2-4) swept the two-game, home-and-home miniseries with Dallas, who played on Saturday without guard Paige Bueckers, the top overall pick in April’s WNBA draft. Bueckers is expected to miss at least two games after sustaining a concussion in Thursday’s contest against the Sky in Chicago.
Chicago led by three points at halftime and by seven after three quarters behind a balanced attack. The Sky expanded their advantage to a dozen points in the first two minutes of the final period and never let Dallas (1-6) back in the game.
Courtney Vandersloot added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Chicago, and Kia Nurse had 11 points.
NaLyssa Smith led the Wings with 20 points. DiJonai Carrington added 16, Arike Ogunbowale scored 15, and Maddy Siegrist and Kaila Charles hit for 11 apiece for Dallas.
The Wings forged a 13-8 lead at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter after a layup by Ogunbowale. Chicago responded, tying the game at 18 when Michaela Onyenwere hit a stepback jumper with 2:03 to play in the period. Elizabeth Williams’ free throw with 25 seconds left granted the Sky a 23-22 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Chicago pushed its lead to 33-25 after a 3-pointer and a layup by Vandersloot, the latter with 6:53 to play in the second period. The Wings roared back, using an 11-2 run capped by Smith’s layup to leapfrog to a 36-35 lead three minutes later. Two free throws by Reese with 1 second remaining in the period put Chicago up 46-43 at the break.
Atkins’ 14 points led all scorers while Smith topped the Wings with 13 in the first half. Dallas outshot the Sky 50 percent to 39 percent over the first two quarters in a half that featured seven lead changes and eight ties.
The Sky stoked its lead back to six points on Rebecca Allen’s driving layup at the 4:12 mark of the third quarter and then to 61-53 on Reese’s layup 26 seconds later. Chicago expanded the margin to nine points on one made free throw by Nurse with 44 seconds to play in the period and carried a 66-59 lead into the final quarter.
–Field Level Media
