The Chicago Sky (4-9) went 0-3 on the week, falling to 9th in the WNBA standings and are now on their longest losing streak of the season with 4 straight.

Here are some takeaways from the recent slate of games:

Changes made, same outcome vs. Indiana

Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon made a starting lineup change when the Sky hit the road to take on the Indiana Fever, sitting Diamond DeShields and Dana Evans for Chennedy Carter and Lindsay Allen. However the outcome remained the same with the Sky picking the up 91-83 loss on June 16.

“Pressure breaks pipes,” Angel Reese said after the loss. “Either we’re going to sink out and just continue to keep losing or we’re going to do what it takes to figure out what to do to get better. I think we just got to get back to the drawing board and figure things out.”

The Sky got out to one of their best starts of the season with the lineup change and outrebounded the Fever thanks to Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso racking up 11 of the team’s 13 first quarter rebounds. 

Reese finished with her sixth consecutive double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Cardoso picked up her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Sky were within three with 2 minutes to go but a missed defensive rotation and breakdown of the defense allowed the Fever to find the space in the paint and get two easy buckets to spread the gap to 5 points with 30 seconds to go. 

“Just being able to execute both offensively and defensively,” Reese said. “I think we could’ve done a better job being able to know the plays and run the plays as Coach [Weatherspoon] told us to run them.”

Sky upset on the road in Washington D.C.

While the Sky had one of their best starts of the season in Indiana, they had their worst start of the season against the Washington Mystics, putting up a season low 10 points that led to the continual claw back that wasn’t enough in the 83-81 loss on June 14.

While the Sky found a way to get back in the game in the second and third quarters thanks to some large runs, Washington’s Ariel Atkins was next to unstoppable with 29 points. The game was very similar to the first matchup against the Indiana Fever on June 1: slow, clunky start but a rally late that fell just short at the free throw line.

“We were a little more aggressive in the second half, little bit better at trying to get to the rim,” Weatherspoon said after the game. “Bigs were being powerful down there a little bit more. Those things have to start from the very beginning, from the onset. If we can do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance, give ourselves an opportunity to win games. Other than that, digging out of holes in this league is tough.” 

The Sky had only 7 free throw attempts in the first half but finished with 25.

Bench keeping Sky close vs. Connecticut

The Sky’s lone home game this week was against the No. 1 team in the WNBA in the Connecticut Sun on June 12, and Chicago’s bench kept them competitive before a breakdown in the fourth quarter led to the 83-75 loss.

“It’s not like this is fun. Nothing fun about losing,” Weatherspoon said. “Not one thing. Doesn’t matter how much you learned and growing. Ain’t nothing fun about freaking losing. Nothing. Doesn’t matter about the freaking lesson that you learn. It’s still nothing fun about losing. So we got to correct some things and correct them quickly.”

Reese’s comfortability within the WNBA started to show in this game, putting up a career-high 20 points along with 10 rebounds, but the turnover bug stuck around with 19 total turnovers with the Sun turning them into 14 points.

“You want to have as many possessions as you possibly can. That’s what the game is, and that’s really what helps you to win games,” Weatherspoon said after the loss. “We turn it over and it causes us major problems because the majority of the time, the other teams are converting. So we have to value the possession, understanding how important it is to value the basketball. Value the basketball. It’s important.”

This was the first game with both Isabelle Harrison and Cardoso off their minutes restriction. As they continue to play more minutes in games moving forward, their comfortability with the team will add to the chemistry that Weatherspoon wants to have with the team moving forward.

Stats and Notes

• Reese’s six straight double-doubles ties the WNBA’s all-time record for consecutive such games by a first-year player vs. IND
• Reese & Cardoso became the first Sky rookies in franchise history to each have 5+ offensive rebounds in the same game and first rookies to do so since Joyner Holmes & Jocelyn Willougby in 2020 for New York vs. IND