Angel Reese set a new rebounding record in Thursday night’s Sky-Mercury game but made it clear after the game that setting records was not her priority. Reese has grabbed 120 offensive rebounds this season, passing Sylvia Fowles as the franchise’s all-time leader in offensive rebounds in a single season.
However, when asked about the record during the post-game press conference, Reese dodged the question by saying, “I don’t want to hear about there being no record.”
She finished with 11 points (4-14 from the field) and 15 rebounds, eight of which were offensive rebounds, tying her record for the most offensive rebounds in a single game. WNBA She had her best rookie season so far this season, grabbing 15 rebounds and moving into 8th place on the all-time rookie rebounding list.
Sky head coach Theresa Witherspoon echoed Reese’s disinterest after the game.
“She’s all about winning. I don’t think she even knew it happened until somebody said something. I didn’t know,” Witherspoon said. “But that’s just who she is. She’s only interested in winning matches, not just breaking records. And that’s great for her. It’s great that she’s doing those things and breaking records and doing great things, but at the end of the day, all we want is to win.”
With 15 games remaining in the WNBA season, Angel Reese is on track to break several more rebounding records. She is currently on pace to grab more rebounds than any player in WNBA history, including rookies. This record is also held by Sylvia Fowles, who grabbed 404 rebounds in the 2018 season. Reese currently sits at 301 rebounds, but if she continues to rebound at the same pace she has so far this season, she will reach 481 by the end of the year.
But what’s more important to her is the playoff race: The Sky are currently eighth in the WNBA standings and in contention for the final playoff spot, but the Dream, Sparks, Mystics and Wings are just a few games behind and could also be in contention for that last spot.
On Thursday, the Mercury defeated the Sky, 85-65, as Chicago couldn’t counter Kaalia Copper (29 points, 19-of-12 shooting from the field) and Brittney Griner (23 points, 12-of-10 shooting from the field).
Griner had his best performance of the season, finishing with nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
“She’s a great player,” Coach Reese said. “Needless to say, she was really efficient tonight. We just weren’t able to follow the game plan tonight. We’ll have another chance to play them on Saturday, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Sky were without guard Chennedy Carter, the team’s leading scorer this season, who sat out the game due to an illness, and her absence was evident as the Sky’s starting backcourt of Rachel Banham and Lindsay Allen combined for just 12 points.
“Cennedy is one of the best guards in this league,” Reese said. “We understand that. We know how valuable she is to our team. We obviously struggled tonight without her.”
The Sky will next face the Sparks, who also returned to WNBA action but suffered a tough loss. Angel Reese will continue to try to break the rebounding record, but her focus remains on keeping Chicago in playoff contention.
“We have to focus on our next game against Los Angeles,” Reiss said. “They’re a good team, too. We just need to go to their home, watch their game, film it and see what we need to improve on. We’ve got to stick to our game plan, look in the mirror and figure things out. We’ll come back and be OK.”
