Sky return from break with overtime win vs. Storm

Kahleah Copper scored 19 points and Allie Quigley added 17

SHARE Sky return from break with overtime win vs. Storm
Kahleah Copper

Kahleah Copper played a major role in the Sky’s secondary unit last season.

AP Photos

Kahleah Copper scored 19 points, Allie Quigley made five three-pointers and finished with 17 and the Sky outlasted the Storm 87-85 in overtime Sunday at Wintrust Arena.

Diamond DeShields added 13 points and Candace Parker 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Sky (11-10), who played their first game since July 10 because of the WNBA’s break for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

‘‘I think this gives us a boost of confidence to where if we can keep our head on correctly and not get bottled down by distractions, then we can win these type of games,’’ said Sky coach James Wade, who celebrated his 46th birthday.

Copper made two free throws to give the Sky an 85-83 lead with 1:40 left in overtime. After the Sky got a stop on the other end, the Storm’s Ezi Magbegor blocked a layup by Copper. Parker grabbed the offensive rebound and missed a putback try, but she again secured the rebound before making a short basket to give the Sky an 87-83 edge with 1:06 left.

Parker moved into eighth place on the WNBA’s all-time rebounds list with 3,016. Former Sky center Sylvia Fowles tops the list with 3,587.

‘‘It was an exciting night for us to be able to play after practicing for the last few weeks and beating up on each other,’’ DeShields said. ‘‘It was just nice to blow some steam off against another opponent.’’

Jewell Loyd led the Storm (16-6) with a season-high 26 points, but she missed a good look at a potential tying layup as time expired. Magbegor added a career-high 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Epiphanny Prince 13 points and Mercedes Russell 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Storm.

Quigley tied the score at 79 with a three-pointer with 46 seconds left in regulation. The Storm’s Jordin Canada missed two free throws with 8.7 seconds left before Quigley missed a three-pointer to send the game to overtime.

‘‘I don’t think where we’re we want to be yet,’’ Quigley said. ‘‘I just think it’s good to get this win. It’s going to give us confidence to keep it going and keep moving forward.’’

The Storm played without reigning WNBA Finals MVP Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, both of whom rested after helping Team USA win a gold medal at the Olympics. They also led the Storm to a 79-57 victory against the Sun in the Commissioner’s Cup title game Thursday.

The Latest
It was the fifth loss in a row and 11th in the last 12 games for the Sox, who plummeted to 3-20.
By pure circumstance, USC quarterback Caleb Williams was on the same flight to Detroit on Tuesday as Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze. Time will tell whether they’re on the same flight out of Detroit — and to Chicago — on Friday morning.
Harrelson says he feels bad for chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, too.
The Cubs also provided an update on outfielder Cody Bellinger’s midgame injury.