The defending WNBA champions came in guns blazing to open up the season. 

The team’s biggest goal: to have an overall better regular season performance compared to their 16-16 finish in 2021. The Chicago Sky did that and more with multiple career and WNBA records set. 

Here are 10 milestones of the 2022 season, in chronological order.

June 3 vs. Atlanta – Courtney Vandersloot becomes the Sky’s all-time leading scorer

Heading into the game against the Dream, Allie Quigley was tied with her wife and teammate, Courtney Vandersloot, for the Sky’s all-time leading scorer (3,389 points). Both sat with 3,389 points heading into the game against the Atlanta Dream. 

Vandersloot’s 9 points pushed her past Quigley, making her the all-time leading scorer in franchise history.

June 10 vs. Connecticut – James Wade’s 100th career game

Head coach and general manager James Wade coached his 100th career game since joining the Chicago Sky in 2019. Wade’s 2022 season as head coach also earned him two nods as the WNBA Coach of the Month for both June and July, going a combined 18-4 over the two months. 

To cap off the season, Wade coached in the WNBA All-Star game on July 10 at his home court in Chicago.

June 21 vs. Las Vegas – Sky pull off largest comeback in WNBA history 

The Las Vegas Aces took the first matchup handedly against the Sky in May, 83-76. When they met again in June, it started to look the same way with the Aces dropping 41 points in the opening quarter and leading by as much as 28 points. That didn’t bother the Sky as they climbed out of the hole to come out with the 104-95, pulling off the largest comeback in WNBA history. 

Five Sky players scored in double-digits with Vandersloot leading the way with 25 points followed by Candace Parker’s double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds).

June 23 vs. Los Angeles – Candace Parker becomes 1st WNBA player with 3 career triple-doubles

Parker made her first trip back to Los Angeles since joining the Chicago Sky a historic one. She put up her second triple-double of the season and third of her career with 10 points, 10 assists and 14 rebounds. 

With that stat line, Parker became the first player in WNBA history to record multiple triple-doubles in a season and have three in her career. Her first triple-double of 2022 came against the Washington Mystics on May 22 where she put up 16 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds.

June 29 vs. Connecticut – Sky set WNBA first half shooting percentage record 

Early in the season, Chicago had some issues with slow starts but that was not the case against the Connecticut Sun. The Sky shot lights out in the opening half of the contest, shooting 83.3% from the floor, breaking the old WNBA record of 80% set by the Minnesota Lynx back in 2003. 

Five Sky players finished in double digits with Parker putting up yet another double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. 

July 9 – Allie Quigley wins historic 4th 3-point contest 

Even during the All-Star break, the Chicago Sky continued to make history. Quigley won her 4th 3-point contest, becoming the first professional basketball player in either the NBA or WNBA to win more than three 3-point contests in a career. 

This was her fourth title in five appearances. She beat Washington’s Ariel Atkins and Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard with 30 points in the final round.

July 23 vs. New York – Kahleah Copper reaches 2,000 career points

The Sky were riding a six-game winning streak heading into the game against the New York Liberty. Even though the streak was snapped with the 83-80 loss, Kahleah Copper reached 2,000 career points after putting up 17 points against the Liberty. 

July 31 vs. Connecticut – Vandersloot moves into WNBA Top 3 in career assists

Vandersloot is the catalyst for the Sky’s offense, averaging 6.6 assists per game and ranked 2nd in the WNBA for assists per game. In the 95-92 overtime win over the Connecticut Sun, Vandersloot moved into the Top 3 all-time in assists after putting up a double-double with 16 points and 12 dimes.

She passed Lindsay Whalen in the all-time list, moving up to No. 3 with 2,350 after the win.

August 7 vs. Connecticut – Sky set new franchise win record

The Sky sat at 24 wins heading into the final matchup against the Connecticut Sun, tied with the 2013 Sky team who made it all the way to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The 94-91 win over the Sun marked win No. 25, setting a new franchise record for the Chicago Sky. 

August 7 vs. Connecticut – Candace Parker creates WNBA milestone

In that 94-91 win over the Sun, Parker had a field day. She put up her 11th double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. She also recorded her 600th career block. 

Parker became the only player in WNBA history to reach 6,000+ points, 3,000+ rebounds, 1,000+ assists and 600+ blocks. She also became only the 5th player in WNBA history to record 600 career blocks.