Quick Three: Sky 78 Sun 66
Chicago's win over the Sun comes after a standout showing from Angel Reese and a strong performance by the bench unit.
After a difficult week, the Sky snapped their skid and picked up their third win of the young season against Connecticut on Sunday afternoon. Let’s dive into the many standouts of the win, and what those performances mean for Chicago in the games head.
1. Bench Steps Up to Deliver Victory
If we look past Angel Reese (more on her in a second), this wasn’t a marquee day for the Sky’s starters. Kia Nurse couldn’t miss (4/4 FG) but played a more limited role than usual (16 minutes). Rebecca Allen never found her rhythm (0/8 FG), Ariel Atkins was largely taken out of the game by Connecticut’s perimeter defense, and Kamilla Cardoso had a relatively quiet outing (10 points, 3/8 FG). The bench, on the other hand, made plenty of noise.
Hailey Van Lith was the standout, delivering the finest performance of her young WNBA career: 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Beyond the scoring, Van Lith also flashed the gritty edge she promised at her introductory press conference in April—pulling down five rebounds, drawing a key charge, and even registering a block. Her ability to pressure the paint in the half-court was a major plus, and if she can continue getting downhill like this, it should open up more catch-and-shoot chances for teammates like Nurse, Allen, and others. Despite Allen’s cold night (0/4 3PT), the rest of the Sky shot a respectable 7-of-16 from three.
Joining Van Lith as an effective downhill threat off the bench was Michaela Onyenwere. After seemingly competing for minutes with Van Lith over the past two games, both saw action today—and Onyenwere made the most of it. Her strength and speed gave Connecticut’s smaller three-guard lineups real problems, and her 7 points (on 3-of-5 shooting) felt bigger than the stat line suggests. It wasn’t just her scoring—it was the way she repeatedly pierced the defense and forced the Sun to reckon with a more physically assertive Sky attack. Against a team like Connecticut, which often willingly goes undersized, her ability to drive matters even more.
The final bench piece worth spotlighting—despite a quieter scoring night—was Elizabeth Williams. Her early-season form has been sharp coming off last year’s season-ending injury, and the difference she makes defensively is clear. Her help-side rotations were especially impactful today, providing the type of structure that elevates everyone else’s defensive engagement. This roster has no shortage of individually strong defenders; the challenge is syncing up the effort and cohesion. Williams, more than anyone else, has the tools to stabilize that end of the floor. Her +12 plus-minus, which matched the team’s final margin, reflects just how valuable she was.
2. Reese Steps Up Across the Box Score
I mentioned Reese as an exception to the rule, and given her performance, it’s no surprise she was the one starter who anchored the largely bench-led lineup that swung a back-and-forth game in Chicago’s favor during the final quarter. Reese ultimately finished with a triple-double, but what truly stood out was her creation for others and her defensive focus.
As a playmaker (11 assists), Reese thrived thanks to two key factors. First, she fully embraced the Sun’s double-teams in the paint and didn’t force up shots against them. As noted earlier this season, she routinely draws two or even three defenders when she catches the ball down low. At that point, the scoring window usually closes—but the playmaking one opens wide. Reese recognized that, consistently making smart kick-outs or dump-offs that led to easy looks. When defenses commit multiple players to stop her, the work is already done—she just needs to trust teammates to finish or keep the ball moving until someone is left wide open. Today, she made those decisions with clarity and calm, generating a flurry of easy interior assists.
She also benefited from a few of the Sky’s more creative offensive sets, especially actions that naturally created big-to-big passing windows. Much has been made of high-low looks between Chicago’s frontcourt players, but while there’s potential there, these smoother, better-spaced actions may prove even more effective long-term. High-lows often demand tough post-ups and precise finishing, whereas the actions we saw today led to clean, often uncontested layups.
On top of the offensive production, Reese’s defensive engagement took a clear step forward. Her ceiling on that end is high—very high—but we haven’t always seen that level consistently this season. After a strong early showing from Tina Charles, Reese acknowledged in her between-quarter interview that she needed to raise her game, and she responded well. While Charles still got some decent looks that rimmed out, Reese made life harder for her as the game progressed, contesting more cleanly and reacting more decisively. That “challenge” element seems to bring out the best in her: she rarely gets exposed by elite talent, and if she can find that gear game in and game out, even on a team likely headed for another lottery-bound season, it could pay major developmental dividends.
3. What Comes Next After Morale Boosting Victory?
A natural question after a performance like this—Chicago’s third win of the season, powered by several players who had yet to truly find their footing—is: how high can this team climb?
It’s worth remembering that this Connecticut team, in many respects, has struggled even more than Chicago in 2025. So not every takeaway from today will carry over seamlessly. For example, the repeated doubles thrown at Reese likely won’t happen against stronger defenses. The Sun have veterans and smart players, but their defense looked toothless in the second half, and they made it far too easy for Reese to pick them apart—even if she deserves plenty of credit for capitalizing. Against most other W teams, this win wouldn’t have come so easily. That said, the upcoming Sky schedule features more games against similarly flawed teams—opponents that present winnable matchups if Chicago can repeat today’s strengths.
Road trips to Minnesota and Atlanta will be real tests, and next weekend’s visit from Phoenix—now with Kahleah Copper back in the fold—won’t be easy. But the other six games in this stretch offer opportunity. If the Sky look like the inconsistent team we’ve seen most of the year, even Golden State and Washington could pose serious problems. If they look like today’s version—engaged, aggressive, and coordinated—this upcoming run could yield real momentum.
So the question becomes: what can Chicago reliably replicate? Perhaps the most important question is whether Van Lith’s breakout performance proves to be more than a one-off. A starting lineup change anytime soon seems unlikely regardless—Allen has been solid all year and Nurse is finding form—but a higher-minute role for Van Lith should continue if she can stay near this level. That’s a big ask, though. Other teams will offer far more resistance. Washington, for instance, can quickly counter with elite perimeter defenders like Brittney Sykes or Sonia Citron to shut off Van Lith’s downhill game the moment it gains traction. When that happens, she’ll need to pivot and run the offense like a true lead guard—an area of her game that’s still very much in development.