Reese stands up to Sun’s physical play, but Sky drops home opener

Enthusiasm reached near record levels for a Sky game at Wintrust Arena. Saturday’s home opener was announced as a sellout of 9,025.

Already a mild surprise by winning two of three road games to start the season, the Sky had a chance to knock off the WNBA’s only unbeaten team, Connecticut. But the physical Sun squad was better in the fourth quarter and handed the Sky an 86-82 loss.

The overwhelming difference was Connecticut’s 27-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Sun’s big, physical lineup took a toll, but too many times the Sky gave up easy offensive rebounds without much of an attempt at boxing out.

Marina Mabrey led the Sky with 23 points, rookie Angel Reese scored 10 of her 13 points in the first half, while guard Dana Evans also had 13. Athletic but erratic guard Chennedy Carter brought a nice spark off the bench, with 11 points and 3 steals, but she fouled out in less than 15 minutes on the court.

This game might be best-remembered for a third-quarter altercation featuring Reese and 6-foot-2 Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, who was ejected after hitting Reese with an elbow to the neck.

Reese is probably too young to model her playing style after Dennis Rodman, but fans will be quick to make the connection.

“I want them to come at me every day,” Reese said after the game. “I want them to come at everybody. They’re not supposed to be nice to me. I hope you all know that. They’re not supposed to be nice to me or lay down because I’m Angel Reese or I’m a rookie.

“Thank you, A.T., for sending a message to me because I got back up and kept going and kept pushing. Me and A.T. have been cool since we were at Maryland, so I know there aren’t hard feelings and I appreciate her for going at me today.”

Thomas played at Maryland, where Reese began college, but the two were not teammates. This battle evolved over three straight possessions. First, while Mabrey hit a 3-pointer, Thomas shoved Reese while fighting for rebound position and both players ended up on the floor.

On the next trip, Reese grabbed an offensive rebound against Thomas, missed the putback attempt, then hit the floor hard as she took a slight hip check from Thomas on the rebound. On the third trip down the court, Thomas hit Reese with the elbow and was given a Flagrant 2 foul after a long replay review.

“It’s no hard feelings to AT,” Reese said. “Obviously, I know she purposely probably didn’t do it toward me. It was going to be a tough game and that’s what I’m built for and my teammates had my back throughout the whole game, so I was prepared for it.”

Connecticut veteran wing DeWanna Bonner is reportedly engaged to Thomas, and Bonner scored 11 of her team-high 19 points after the ejection.

Bonner had her own run-in with Reese in the fourth quarter. While the two battled for rebounding position, Bonner went to the floor clutching her face, as if she’s been poked in the eye. This time, referees studied the video and decided it was inconclusive, so no foul was called.

Trailing 78-71, the Sky went on an 8-0 run and took the lead on an Evans 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining. After that, the Sky went cold and didn’t score for more than four minutes. Michaela Onyenwere missed a pair of free throws, but the Sky tipped the rebound out and Mabrey connected on a 3-pointer bring the Sky within 85-82 with 1:02 left. The Sky got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Reese was called for an illegal screen.

Mabrey saluted the fans after the game.

“Women deserve for people to watch them and we work really hard,” she said. “I hope that our fans keep coming back. It was a tough loss, but we’re going to keep getting better and we’re going to bring that energy they bring. It was just a really big moment, when we all got called out (for introductions) and it was really, really loud.”