Angel Reese had a dominant performance on Friday, extending her WNBA single-season record streak for double doubles to 12 and matching the all-time record, in a big 88-84 road win for the Chicago Sky over the Seattle Storm.
Fresh off being named a WNBA All-Star, Reese impressed with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks to help the Sky win their second game on the bounce against a Storm squad which had been on a four-game winning streak and 8-1 at home until Friday night.
The former LSU star’s 12th consecutive double double matches the all-time record set by all-time WNBA great Candace Parker, who achieved the feat across the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
“I don’t really think about it. I just go out there and do my job,” Reese said after the game about the streak. “My job is to rebound, so I’m going to go out there and do my job and rebound. I know that’s what my teammates need me to do, and I’ve committed to that.”
Though she did a job on the boards – grabbing a game-high tally worthy of her league-leading performance on the season – Reese’s biggest contribution on the night was through scoring.
Reese and guard Chennedy Carter, who led all scorers on the night with a season-high 33 points, combined for over 68% of Chicago’s point tally in the victory against a balanced Seattle attack which featured all five Storm starters hitting the double figure mark.
The game was tight throughout the first half with Chicago holding a one-point lead after the first quarter and Seattle fighting back to take a narrow two-point advantage into the break.
The Sky broke the game open in the third behind Carter, who scored 11 in the period, to go up six heading into the fourth. Chicago held back the persistent Storm behind a resilient Reese, who hit four clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game to seal the win.
Asked about the loud and pressure-filled atmosphere in Seattle and the free throws down the stretch, Reese said, “I haven’t always been great at free throws. It’s been obviously a work in progress for me and just continuing to just get better and be able to have teammates and coaches that trust in me.”
“Just being able to step up there with confidence every single day in practice shoot 50 free throws at the end, so I’m always focused for that, so that moment, it was like nothing for me.”
Chicago and Seattle play again in Washington on Sunday afternoon.