Heading into the Thursday night game, the rest of the season was as good as lost for the Chicago Sky. After a 5-game losing streak, sitting 8-26, they were officially out of playoff contention when the Sparks defeated Dallas. Interestingly, coach Marsh’s predecessor, Teresa Weatherspoon, finished last season with a 13-27 record, and with the way this campaign has progressed, the total seems hard to match. But the HC isn’t giving up yet.

“I think that we got, we still have an opportunity to play basketball. We still got an opportunity to compete and to win games. We still got an opportunity to develop, and you lose those opportunities if you kind of just mail it in and cash in the rest of the season. And so, we can’t take these moments for granted,” Marsh said in the pre-game press conference against the New York Liberty, emphasizing how his team shouldn’t be giving up on the season yet.

Sure, the season might be over for the Sky in terms of playoff contention, but the team’s growth doesn’t stop here. The Sky has a young roster alongside the experience of Ariel Atkins, Kia Nurse, and the like. But the issue was always the roster construction. The Sky decided to let go of their top scorer and bring in more defensive-minded guards. Yes, Vandersloot is one of the greatest playmaking guards, but her unfortunate ACL injury was a disaster for the Sky, as they couldn’t replace her creativity or Carter’s scoring.

But there were positives for coach Marsh, too. The performances of Angel Reese in a more point-forward role have definitely helped her shine. She is currently averaging a league-high 12.3 rebounds and a team-high 14.4 points and 3.7 assists per game. Ariel Atkins was another player the Sky heavily invested in, and while she has shown glimpses of what she can provide, injuries have limited her impact as well.

So, heading into the final stretch of the season, coach Marsh had a clear demand for two of his best players. When asked about how good it was to finally have both his star players back on the court for the first time in a long time, he didn’t shy away from stating his demands.

“We haven’t seen that a whole lot in a while. So, it was good to have that back on the court the other night. I think that the more time they get back acclimated with each other, the more well-rounded we’ll be. And I think that Angel obviously adds to the versatility that we have on both ends. And I’ve said all year that when Ariel—and the numbers showed as well—when Ariel was more aggressive shooting the ball, we’re a better team for it, particularly offensively. And so I think that we need both of them to be aggressive offensively, and then tonight we need them to both be great on the defensive end as well.”

Out of the 35 games the Sky have played this season, Reese has appeared in only 25, while Atkins played in 28. Injuries have been a constant issue for the team. Reese returned against the Seattle Storm after missing the previous 3 weeks with a back injury, and Atkins, who had missed seven consecutive games with a leg injury, was finally cleared of minutes restrictions. Going forward, coach Marsh is hoping they stay healthy and aggressive. We’ve already seen how dangerous this duo can be–remember their game against the Lynx? Reese and Atkins combined for 46 points to power the Sky to an 87-81 win.

And they both showed up in a big way against the Liberty! Atkins and Reese were phenomenal as the Sky finally snapped their five-game losing streak with a much-needed win. The duo combined for 40 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. Safe to say they responded to Marsh’s demands! And for the Bayou Barbie? This is just another normal day at the office for her!

Angel Reese has another historic night

Angel Reese has been in the form of her life this season after starting slow. While she failed to extend her 11-game consecutive streak of posting a double-double statline against the Storm in her comeback game, she was able to increase her league-high double-double tally to 18 this season and managed to create another record in the process!

Since returning from her back injury, Reese is putting up 20 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 68.2% from the field. According to Polymarket Hoops, she’s now tied herself as the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 300 rebounds in a season and ranks third for most 20/10 games this year. And mind you… she’s done all this despite missing 10 games!

The season might be over for the Windy City franchise, but there’s still plenty to play for. This is the perfect time for coach Marsh to experiment with the lineup and find out which combinations bode well for them in the long term. So there’s plenty to look forward to.