Angel Reese has gotten off the snide against Caitlin Clark as a professional as the Chicago Sky (6-9) overcame a 15-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Fever (7-11) 88-87. Reese got her first win over her arch-nemesis in three outings and turned in a career game with 25 points and 16 rebounds. It was the eighth straight double-double for the No. 7 selection of the 2024 WNBA draft, who became just the sixth rookie in WNBA history to produce a 25-point and 16-rebound game.
Game 3 of the season series between Indiana and Chicago was as good and drama-filled as the first two. Indiana won each of the previous two meetings by nine points in front of sellout crowds. Today was also a sellout despite the ticket prices being the highest ever for a WNBA game since 2015.
According to Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times, actor Jason Sudeikis, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, and rappers Lil Durk and Chance the Rapper were among the 10,387 fans at Wintrust Arena to catch the action. It was the Sky’s third home sellout in eight games.
Costabile reported that less than an hour before tipoff, StubHub was selling its remaining 63 tickets between $252 and $3,311 each. The average ticket price ended up being $331.
“I love [the crowd,]” Reese said. “I love it for women’s sports. They haven’t sold out crowds in a long time. Being able to do this and be here in this moment, continuing to grow women’s basketball is important to me.”
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Both teams came out swinging and looking to run. As a result, the first half was very entertaining and close. Six points was the biggest lead of either team in the opening 20 minutes, which included eight lead changes and seven ties. The Sky shot 51% from the floor, while the Fever connected on 48.6 of their shots, including 40% from deep.
The second half was a different story. The final 20 minutes turned out to be a game of runs, at least until the waning minutes. Trailing 46-45 at halftime, Chicago scored the first seven points to take a six-point lead, which would be their largest of the game, with 8:35 to go in the third.
But the Fever battled back to tie the game at 55 with a little less than six minutes remaining and subsequently went on a 17-2 run to take a 15-point advantage. The Sky closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 74-64.
The start of the fourth quarter saw a little give and take. However, the Sky took control of the game midway through the final stanza as they held the Fever scoreless for nearly four minutes and five points over the final 6:38. Overall, the Sky by 12 points during this stretch.
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With the victory, Chicago moved ahead of Indiana and into the final playoff spot. The Sky shot 50% from the floor for the first this year as Reese and Chennady Carter were each 8 of 12, and Kamilo Cardoso made 7 of 9 shots. Carter, who received major backlash for her incident with Clark in the team’s first meeting, scored 23 points. Meanwhile, Cardoso picked up her second double-double of the season as she finished with a career-best 16 points along with 10 boards.
While the ending didn’t go as Clark probably envisioned as the game was unfolding, the No. 1 overall pick, who is the -950 odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year, was good. Clark finished with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting with five treys, her second most on the season, and a franchise record 13 assists. It was Clark’s third double-double of the campaign, though she added six rebounds and four steals, tying her season-best for thefts.
Chicago and Indiana meet for the final time of the season in Chicago on September 30. Clark averages 17.0 points, 9.3 assists, and 7.0 rebounds with shooting splits of 48.5/40.0/90.0% against the Sky.
