Angel Reese recorded her seventh straight double-double on Thursday to set a WNBA rookie record as the Chicago Sky beat the Dallas Wings 83-72.
Reese finished with 16 points and a season-high 18 rebounds for the Sky, who snapped a four-game losing streak. The former LSU star passed Tina Charles and Cindy Brown for the most consecutive games with a double-double by a WNBA rookie.
“It’s super exciting for me,” Reese told ESPN during his post-game interview. “I’m trying to give myself some grace and tell myself I’m doing a good job, but I still have so much to develop and I’m just excited to be in this league.”
The WNBA overall record for most consecutive double-doubles is 12, set during the 2009-10 seasons by former Sparks star Candace Parker, who also played two seasons for the Sky late of his rich career.
When asked if he could become the Sky’s next great interior player, Reese gave a nod to another former Chicago star — Sylvia Fowles, who mentored Reese at LSU.
“I love Sylvia, she was a great person to me and a great mentor to me when I was at LSU,” Reese said. “Being able to have that relationship with her at LSU, I know she’s going to be very proud of me.”
The six-foot-three Reese is now averaging 10.8 rebounds in 14 games this season and is the league’s second-leading rebounder behind only two-time MVP A’ja Wilson.
“I mean, obviously, I just want to do whatever it takes to win, and rebounding is what I do to win,” Reese said.
Chennedy Carter and Marina Mabrey scored 19 points each to lead the Sky, who improved to 5-9.
Chicago closed the first half on a 16-4 run to build a 42-25 lead. Carter made all seven of his 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 layup extended Chicago’s lead to 55-35 in the third quarter. The Wings didn’t reach the 40-point mark until 9:38 remained in the fourth.
Dallas came back in the fourth quarter, when Arike Ogunbowale made a 3-pointer on three straight possessions to pull within 69-59. Jacy Sheldon, in his first start of the season, added a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 79-70 with 44.1 seconds left, but Chicago made four straight free throws to seal the victory.
Rookie Kamilla Cardoso, who is coming off her first career double-double, finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.
Ogunbowale scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas (3-11). Natasha Howard, who played for the first time since the season opener on May 15 because of a broken foot, added 13 points. The Wings were without Maddy Siegrist (broken finger) and Kalani Brown (illness).
Dallas was scoreless in the first four minutes of the game, missing five straight shots. The Wings shot just 24 percent in the first quarter, with Ogunbowale attempting eight of their 21 shots.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
