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Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky lost their third consecutive game on Friday, falling 88-70 to the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena.
Reese’s teammate, Ariel Atkins, pinned the blame on a familiar issue yet again - the team’s inability to close out games.
“Our third quarters have been tough, so now we gotta have a good fourth quarter,” Atkins said after the game.
“I know y’all are probably tired of hearing the same answers, but it truly is what it is. We just have to keep pressing and continue to get better, because we will put them all together.”
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The fourth quarter has been a recurring problem for Chicago in the 2025 season. The Sky are among the league’s bottom five in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging just 19.4 points. They were unable to reach that mark against the Dream, managing only 16 points in the closing frame.
To exacerbate matters, four members of the starting lineup – Angel Reese, Rebecca Allen, Kia Nurse and Ariel Atkins – went scoreless in the quarter, missing all of their nine combined field goal attempts.
Angel Reese keeps fans motivated amid subpar campaign
Angel Reese had a strong showing during her rookie season, averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. She impressed fans with a sensational Unrivaled campaign, leaving Chicago Sky fans hopeful that their star forward would elevate her game to All-WNBA status in her sophomore year.
However, Reese is yet to meet those expectations one quarter into the 2025 season. Her production has significantly dipped, averaging just 10.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, with the Sky languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 2-7 record.
Despite the concerns, Reese chose to be optimistic as she wrote on Instagram:
“Every successful person you admire survived a season you didn’t see. Idols turn into rivals. Everything becomes about survival,” Reese captioned her post.
While Chicago is essentially out of the Commissioner’s Cup race with a 0-3 record, there's plenty of time left to turn things around. The Sky need to divert their focus to a fairly easy stretch of games - against the ailing Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics.
