Sky Stumble Again in the Third, Drop 79–72 to Mystics

Elizabeth Williams and Shakira Austin face off and Wintrust Arena Tuesday - Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Sky

The Chicago Sky looked like a completely different team in the first half of tonight's game against the Washington Mystics at Wintrust Arena.

Throughout the first half, Chicago displayed impressive chemistry and cohesion on both ends of the floor. They held a 12-point lead going into the half and the momentum seemed to be in their favor. But the third quarter proved to be their achilles heel once again. 

In six out of their 11 games this season, the Sky’s lowest scoring quarter has been the third. No matter how promising the start, they just can’t seem to get over the third quarter hump. 

The 12 point lead they had going into the third dwindled down to just three after just five minutes of play.

Forward Angel Reese added another double-double to her résumé with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and showcased her passing with five assists. But after committing seven turnovers, she took full responsibility for the loss.

“For me, seven turnovers just can't happen,” Reese said. “We clean that up, obviously we could see that we could have won this game,” Reese said. 

The Sky committed 25 turnovers, translating to 40 points for the Mystics. Guard Ariel Atkins defended Reese, refusing to let her shoulder the blame alone.

“She’s [Reese] talking about her turnovers, we got to do a better job as PG’s [point guards] at bringing it down and making things easier for everybody,” Atkins said. “We got to figure out how to get into a flow.” 

The frustration with turnovers continues to be an ongoing issue for Head Coach Tyler Marsh.

“Where we struggle is in transition. We gave up 20 in transition and a large part of that is due to our turnovers, Marsh said.” [I] spoke about it before the game, it feels like it’s been redundant.”

While the Sky may not know why they often struggle in the third quarter, Marsh pointed to a lack of energy in tonight’s game, while Reese said the team simply got too comfortable

“We had 20 great minutes and then we maybe had five more good minutes and that was it from us,” Reese said. “We got to put together a good 40 minutes for us to be a good team.”

Basketball is a game of runs, and success for the Sky may be less elusive if they can limit their opponents’ momentum. Just as importantly, they need to be mentally prepared to withstand those runs when they do happen.

"Throughout and after the game, a lot of our mistakes are on us,” Marsh said. “You can still maintain confidence – a lot of it has to deal with self-inflicted wounds."

The Sky clearly have a capable team, but consistency will be key to their success. To secure a win against the 8-4 Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, they'll need to maintain their performance across all four quarters.