CHICAGO (AP) — Chennedy Carter and Marina Mabrey scored 19 points each, Angel Reese recorded her seventh consecutive double-double to set a WNBA rookie record and the Chicago Sky eased by the Dallas Wings 83-72 on Thursday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Reese finished with 16 points and a season-high 18 rebounds to pass Tina Charles and Cindy Brown for the most consecutive games with a double-double by a WNBA rookie. The overall record is 12 in a row, set by Candace Parker during the 2009-10 seasons.
Chicago closed the first half on a 16-4 run to build a 42-25 lead. Carter made all seven of her shots in the first half to finish with 15 points, while the Wings were just 10 of 36 from the field (28%), including 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
Reese’s steal and fast-break layup extended Chicago’s lead to 55-35 in the third quarter. The Wings didn’t reach the 40-point mark until there was 9:38 left in the fourth.
Dallas came back in fourth quarter when Arike Ogunbowale made a 3-pointer on three straight possessions to get within 69-59. Jacy Sheldon, in her first start of the season, added a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 79-70 with 44.1 seconds left, but Chicago made four straight free throws to seal the win.
Rookie Kamilla Cardoso, coming off her first career double-double, finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.
LIBERTY 93, SPARKS 80
NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points and Jonquel Jones added 22 to help New York beat Los Angeles.
The Sparks were playing their first game since they lost star rookie Cameron Brink to an ACL tear in her left knee.
The Liberty (13-3) led 60-54 with 2:58 left in the third quarter before Ionescu and Jones combined to score the first 11 points of a 13-0 run to give New York a double-digit cushion. Ionescu got it started with consecutive 3-pointers and Jones added one. Ionescu then found Jones for an easy layin on the next possession.
Zia Cooke hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to end the drought for the Sparks (4-12).
Los Angeles chipped away at the lead and only trailed 82-76 with 2:56 left before consecutive 3-pointers by New York put the game away.
Aari McDonald scored 15 points and Cooke added 13 to lead the Sparks.
