Angel Reese on budding rivalry with Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever: 'I want to make it about about the team'

The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky played their much-anticipated third matchup of the season on Sunday. This one, in large part thanks to the efforts of Angel Reese, ended in Sky’s first victory of the series between the two with an 88-87 win.

After the game, Reese once again had to address the underlying storyline of the games considering the connections between her and Caitlin Clark. However, she put the focus more on their teams with her group getting one over this opponent on the year.

“It’s just good competition. I’m happy,” said Reese to Holly Rowe. “I mean they still got us. They got one up on us.”

“I’m just happy for the team. I want to make it about us,” Reese said. “Chicago? They came out tonight. I’m just happy for us.”

Reese finished with yet another double-double, her eighth consecutive and ninth so far in the WNBA, with game highs of 25 points and 16 rebounds. The points were a season-best to this point of her rookie year while the rebounds were her second-most after setting her new high in their last outing versus Dallas.

Over the past eight games, Reese is averaging 15.5 points and 13.1 rebounds on 45.7% from the field.

These past few outings have been Reese’s best stretch of play thus far as a pro. That’s due to the energy that she has tried to provide from herself and for her team lately.

“I’m a dog. You can’t teach that,” said Reese. “I’m going to go out and do whatever it takes to win every single night. My teammates rely on my energy. So being able to see the energy, even if we’re down, even if we’re up? That’s what I do.”

With the one-point win, Chicago is now 6-9 and are winners of two straight. That, along with the career game, is enough for Reese to close the weekend before they take the floor again later this week against the Las Vegas Aces.

“I try to give myself some grace. I’m really hard on myself,” said Reese. “I mean I’m happy we won. I’m so happy we won. That matters more than anything but I gotta get back to work and we’ve got to get back to work for our next game.”

Reese becomes first rookie since A’ja Wilson with 25+ points, 15+ rebounds

The Chicago Sky found themselves down by 15 points in the third quarter of of their Sunday matchup against the Indiana Fever. Angel Reese helped rally the Sky to an 88-87, come-from-behind win, though, that also served as a record-breaking performance for her.

Reese ended the game with 25 points and 16 rebounds on the day. With that, she became the first WNBA rookie since A’ja Wilson to post 25+ points and 15+ rebounds. She also extended her double-double streak to eight games. That’s the longest streak for a rookie and the fourth-longest streak from any player in the history of the WNBA.

Through 14 games Reese has been having an outstanding rookie season for the Sky. She has translated her scoring and rebounding from college to the pros with 12.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game so far this season. Ironically, Reese is tied with Wilson for sixth in the league in steals and only trails her as the league’s second-leading rebounder.