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After losing stars Candace Parker and Courtney
Vandersloot, plus dependable shooter Allie Quigley during the
offseason, Chicago (3-1) has more than held its own out of the
gate. It's even more impressive considering injured veteran
forward Isabelle Harrison (knee) has yet to debut for the Sky,
while Morgan Bertsch (ankle) and Rebekah Gardner (foot) -- both
day to day -- missed Sunday's 94-88 home win over Dallas.
"(The adversity) is not that big a deal," Sky coach/general
manager James Wade said. "It's how you respond.
"When I say we're really confident with all the players that we
have on our roster, we are."
After scoring 19 points in Chicago's 71-69 home loss to
Washington on Friday, Marina Mabrey had 23 versus Dallas, while
Kahleah Copper added 16. Alanna Smith recorded 14 points and 12
rebounds, and Courtney Williams posted 12 and 11, respectively,
as Chicago scored its most points of the young season.
Copper is averaging 15.8 points per game, while Mabrey is at
15.7 and Williams scores 10.5 with 8.3 rebounds.
The Sky, who opened with road wins at Minnesota and Phoenix, aim
for a fifth straight victory over Atlanta (1-2).
In the opener of a five-game homestand, the Dream lost 90-87 on
Sunday to the Indiana Fever, who ended a WNBA-record tying
20-game losing streak. All three Dream games have been decided
by seven or fewer points.
"No game is gonna be easy," Dream coach Tanisha Wright said.
"If we're going to win games, we've got to be high-level, in
terms of our execution."
While the Dream rank third in the WNBA averaging 82.7 points,
they're eighth in the 12-team league on defense, giving up 84.0
per contest.
Allisha Gray leads Atlanta in scoring (18.3 points), rebounds
(7.0) and assists (4.0), while former Sky forward Cheyenne
Parker, along with guard Rhyne Howard, average 17.0 points
apiece.
--Field Level Media
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