Sky coach Tyler Marsh said the officiating on Kamilla Cardoso was a joke after Chicago‘s 106-101 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Monday night at Wintrust Arena.
Cardoso finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists in 27 minutes. She shot 8-of-15 from the field and did not attempt a free throw.
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Marsh said Phoenix crowded the paint on Cardoso’s post-ups all night, and that Chicago worked to empty out the backside to get her cleaner looks late.
“It was a joke. It’s a f—— joke. It’s a joke,” Marsh said. “How many more games does she need to go without getting a free throw? It makes no sense. Zero sense. No, it didn’t come down to that. We fought our asses off today. We could’ve been more disciplined, put them on the line 40 times.”
“Not saying the officials made 40 wrong calls or 20 wrong calls, whatever it is. Not saying that at all,” Marsh continued. “But for her to play as hard as she does consistently — she doesn’t give much pushback to the officials. I try to talk as calmly as I can to officials before it gets out of hand. It’s a joke.”
Chicago attempted 25 free throws and made 17. Phoenix attempted 40 and made 31. DiJonai Carrington took 12 of Chicago’s 25 attempts.
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The Sky were called for 26 personal fouls, the Mercury for 21. Aicha Coulibaly was assessed a flagrant 1 with 3:36 left in the second quarter. Carrington was given a technical foul with 3:19 left in the third. Phoenix had neither a technical nor a flagrant. Tim Greene, Toni Patillo, and Marcy Williams worked the game.
Cardoso was whistled for 4 personal fouls. She pulled 7 of her 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter and scored 6 points in the period, including putbacks with 4:38 and 1:13 left. DeWanna Bonner blocked another putback attempt with 1:43 to play. Cardoso moved to second in WNBA history in games with at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists without a turnover, behind A’ja Wilson.
Marsh said Chicago won transition, second-chance points, and the paint, tied the rebounding, had more assists, and turned the ball over less.
“Yeah, she was putting pressure on the rim pretty good and pretty regularly, and drawing the contact, so we needed those,” Marsh said. “It was half of our free throw attempts tonight. So she was able to stop some runs a couple times with her ability to get to the free throw line. So that was good to see. That’s what it was.”
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The Sky won points in the paint 48-40, second-chance points 12-8, fast-break points 15-8, and assists 29-26. Both teams finished with 36 rebounds. Chicago turned the ball over 8 times to Phoenix’s 12.
Courtney Vandersloot said she made a bad pass to Cardoso on a possession late in the fourth quarter and that it was the wrong decision at the wrong time.
“I mean, all I have right now is the last two plays on my mind, so it’s hard,” Vandersloot said. “Obviously that’s where I want to start — is I got to be better in those possessions. I got to make better plays for us. But big picture, I think we fouled them too much, put them to the free throw line.”
“Momentum shifted and it’s a good team. They had KP out there and, yeah, we let the momentum shift, get away from us, put them to the free throw line,” Vandersloot explained. “Couldn’t get a call for us. I thought Kamilla probably got fouled a couple times down there, but we didn’t get any free throws from there. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
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Chicago led 99-92 when Vandersloot drove for a layup with 3:22 to play. Phoenix closed the game on a 14-2 run. Alyssa Thomas scored seven straight points over that stretch and finished 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Kahleah Copper went 7-of-12 at the line and scored 31.
Phoenix scored 31 points at the free throw line. Chicago scored 17.
Chicago shot 73.3% in the third quarter and won the period 30-23. Phoenix had built a 12-point lead in the second on a 22-8 run. The Sky reached 100 points for the fifth time this season. The lead changed hands nine times.
The Sky fell to 11-19 and are 7-8 at home.
Chicago hosts the Sparks on Wednesday, the third and final meeting between the teams this season.
