Cheyenne Parker helps Chicago Sky remain undefeated at home with win over Seattle Storm

After pulling out a narrow victory against the Seattle Storm just over a week ago, the Chicago Sky won another close game against Seattle.

CHICAGO — The 78-71 Chicago Sky victory came behind the herculean effort of forward Cheyenne Parker.

Parker had a double-double in the game, scoring 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards. The 6’4 veteran also had two steals and a block in her 23 minutes of play.

Parker’s production was the difference between a Sky victory and a Sky loss on Sunday night.

Chicago came roaring out of the gates, shutting down the Storm on multiple possessions and looking like a rejuvenated team. The Sky jumped out to a 15-6 lead halfway through the first, a lead that ballooned to 23 points partway through the second quarter.

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But then Chicago’s offense came crashing to a halt thanks to a two-minute stretch where the Sky turned the ball over three times and got ice cold from the field. The Sky only scored one point—a Gabby Wiliams free throw from a 3-point foul call—in the last seven minutes of the first half.

But Chicago managed to hang onto their early lead under Parker’s play. Seattle had no answer to Parker as she did her damage off the dribble, in the post and on the boards. Parker was a terror on the other end, swallowing up guards and bigs alike in the post and captaining Chicago’s defense.

The game was one that Sky head coach James Wade said he has been waiting for.

“I thought she dominated the game,” Wade said. “That’s what we needed from her. She works hard, and we just want her to reward herself by seeing it out there on the floor during the game, so we’re happy about it but we have more games to play so we look forward to her doing it some more.”

Chicago has not yet established a clear sixth woman in their lineup yet this season. Parker and Williams have essentially split those duties so far this season, and could continue to do so for much of the year. Parker, who had a breakout season last year, may be the perfect third big for the Sky behind Jantel Lavender and Stefanie Dolson.

Her athleticism and size allows her to play at either the four or five spot, but she can also step out to the perimeter on smaller players, something that elevated Chicago’s defense for stretches of time. She showcased her dribble drive ability on Sunday, an interesting element of her game that usually does not shine through. Parker plays with more energy than most other players on the floor, and can be downright dominant when she gets into a groove.

That energy paid off on the boards as Parker helped the Sky win the offensive rebounding battle, the first time they have outrebounded an opponent on the offensive glass this season. Rebounding had been a significant point of emphasis during Sky practices before the game and Wade said that winning the rebounding battle is a sign of Chicago’s hard work paying off.

Turnovers, though, continue to be the death knell of any and all Sky momentum.

The Storm’s 17-1 run to close the gap in the second quarter was sparked by a series of needless turnovers from the Sky. Chicago turned the ball over 20 times in the win, a season worst for the team in a year marred by turnover-heavy nights.

Every player who saw minutes against the Storm—save for Katie Lou Samuelson, who played a team-low seven minutes—had a turnover. Six different players on the Sky had multiple turnovers, with Dolson and Courtney Vandersloot turning the ball over four and five times, respectively.

Sunday night’s game was a showcase in why turnovers are the key to Chicago’s season moving forward. Despite controlling most other facets of the game, turnovers allowed Seattle to hang around all game. When the Sky do have off shooting nights or when they rebound the ball poorly, the results are not pretty. Turnovers reduce the Sky’s margin for error to levels that just are not tenable on a nightly basis.

Wade said the key to cutting down turnovers is more time practicing.

“We’ve had two days of practice where we focused strictly on rebounds and it came to this point where we doubled up a team in rebounds,” Wade said. “So I think practice is where we get it, because they work really hard and the coaches do a really good job of preparing practices and putting them in situations to be successful and also putting them in situations to be uncomfortable in practice. So we just have to keep focused on the things that hinder us a little bit. We’ll do that, and we’ll be better.”

The Sky will not have much practice time to work on taking care of the ball before their next game, however. They play host to the Phoenix Mercury Tuesday night, and will have the chance to grab a statement win and put themselves above .500.

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