Skylar Diggins sparked a Chicago rally in its victory over Portland. Photo by Jacob Nunez/Sportspage Magazine
The first thing a team must do to be considered legitimate is to win at home. Protecting the home court is a must for a team to grow into a contender.
The Chicago Sky took a baby step on Wednesday, thumping visiting Portland 101-78 at Wintrust Arena. They’ll have an opportunity to build on that when the two teams get together again on a back-to-back, Friday in Chicago.
Chicago (5-12) broke a six-game losing streak and won for just the second time in 13 games. The Sky improved to 2-6 at home.
“I think we executed pretty well today on both ends of the floor,” said Sky Head Coach Tyler Marsh. “I thought our energy was good. I thought our communication was great.”
The Fire (8-10), which began a long road trip, lost for the fourth consecutive time away from home. Counting Wednesday, Portland plays eight of its next nine games on the road.
The Sky match up well with Portland. Two of their wins this season have come against the Fire, including a 98-83 triumph at Portland in the season opener. Chicago goes for the sweep of the season series on Friday.
It was a true team effort for Chicago, which was coming off an embarrassing 92-63 loss at Connecticut. Seven players scored in double figures with nobody scoring more than Skylar Diggins’ team-leading 15 points.
Diggins accounted for 10 points in a 12-0 run early in the third quarter that sent Chicago on its way. She scored eight points, and assisted on another basket as a 53-52 edge ballooned to 65-52 advantage and the Sky never looked back. They led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and took a 75-60 lead into the final period.
“Tonight was obviously a must-needed win for us,” said Chicago’s Natasha Cloud, who despite an illness that she described as a “summer cold” still managed to play well and contribute nine points including all three shots from the field and both free throws to go along with four assists and four rebounds. “I’m just really proud of this group, our resiliency, our commitment to one another that we’re able to go through the adversity that we’ve been through very early on in the season and still stay together and focus and get a dub tonight.”
Kamilla Cardoso led a strong inside game for Chicago in its home victory over the Fire. Photo by Jacob Nunez/Sportspage Magazine
The Sky held decisive edges in two key categories. They earned a 56-30 advantage on points in the paint, as well as outscoring the Fire 13-0 on fast break points. Chicago shot 52 percent from the floor, helping them break 100 points for the third time this season.
Diggins was 5-for-10 from the floor, and hit all five free-throw attempts in addition to dishing out a team-best six assists.
Sydney Taylor and Jacy Sheldon followed with 14 points each. Taylor was 5-for-8 from the floor, including a 2-for-4 night from long range. Sheldon was 6-for-12 for the game.
Kamilla Cardoso was dominant in the paint. She made 6-of-7 shots to finish with 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Azura Stevens turned in the only double-double of the night, scoring 11 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Gabriela Jaquez and Aicha Coulibaly rounded out the double-figure scoring for Chicago with 10 points apiece.
Portland stayed in the game by scoring from distance. Five of its six field goals in the first quarter were 3-pointers, and the Fire scored 24 of 39 first-half points from long range, shooting 57.1 percent from that distance in the first half.
But when those shots stopped falling, the Sky turned them into fast-break points the other way.
Megan Gustafson paced the Fire with 17 points. Sarah Ashlee Barker added 13 points and both Emily Engstler and Carla Leite (six assists) finished with 10 points.