The Chicago Sky took their sixth consecutive loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. Despite the slump-extending defeat, Chicago received promising performances from Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Reese achieved a historical rebounding feat, and Cardoso had one of her best offensive showings of the 2024 season. Reese and head coach Teresa Weatherspoon gave rave reviews of the growth Cardoso showed against Minnesota despite Sunday’s loss.
Kamilla Cardoso ended the Lynx matchup with a career-high 22 points along with nine rebounds. She shot 63.6 percent from the field and was Chicago’s major source of offense in the absence of Chennedy Carter. Angel Reese revealed her strong message to
Cardoso before Sunday’s game:
“I told her from the beginning of the game. I told her, ‘This will be your game.’” Reese said. “I knew this was going to be her game and [she was going to be] able to dominate inside because they had nobody to guard her… I love Kamilla’s confidence being able to go up strong and finish around the basket and then going up to the free throw line and knocking it down. So I’m really proud of Kamilla, and her confidence has been great.”
Similarly, Teresa Weatherspoon praised Cardoso’s abilities and emphasized the need to get her the ball.
“We feel like Kamilla is a dominant big who is very, very difficult to defend, and we talked about making the deliberate actions to make sure we punch it down to her. It was working for us greatly in the first half… She’s incredible in the post, so we wanted to make sure the ball got in her hands and use that to our advantage. So we gotta stick with what works and continue to push the ball inside,” Weatherspoon stated.
The second half of the 2024 season has not been friendly to the Sky. They have yet to win a game after the Olympic break. Nevertheless, they retain their hold on the final and eighth spot that advances to the playoffs. Chicago will need to bring its best performances during the last two weeks of the year to stay in the race.
Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese’s ascensions are promising signs. Once the Sky get Chennedy Carter back, they should be able to remain competitive and have a chance to make noise in the postseason.
Chicago will attempt to bounce back from the Lynx loss and losing streak on the road against the Las Vegas Aces on Sep. 3
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