“This Is Gross Basketball” — Sky Guard Doesn’t Sugarcoat Blowout Loss to Storm

“This Is Gross Basketball” — Sky Guard Doesn’t Sugarcoat Blowout Loss to Storm originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Chicago Sky are still winless through two games after the 2025 WNBA All-Star break. On Thursday, the Angel Reese-less Sky got crushed in an embarrassing 38-point beatdown at the hands of the Seattle Storm at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Sky’s 95-57 loss to Skylar Diggins and company came following a 91-68 blowout defeat to the Minnesota Lynx on the road last Tuesday. Dating back to the first half of the 2025 campaign, the Sky have now lost four games in a row.

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Chicago guard Rachel Banham gave a candid team perspective after getting trampled upon in front of Sky’s home fans.

“It’s felt gross,” Banham said, per reporter Karli Bell. “It’s probably how you guys look at it. We’re just not consistent. It just feels gross. This is gross basketball and we know that.”

The final score reflected the utter dominance of the Storm on both sides of the court. Seattle shot 53.6 percent from the field and made nine of its 20 attempts from behind the arc. Defensively, the Storm held Chicago to just a 33.9 field goal percentage. Ball security was a big issue in the game for the Sky, who committed 20 turnovers. Those miscues were turned into 26 points by Seattle, which conceded just eight points on 11 turnovers.

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Chicago missed Angel Reese’s presence

The Sky would have probably been in a better position to beat Seattle if Reese had played. But the star forward was ruled out for the Storm game because of a back issue that forced her to exit the meeting with the Lynx.

Reese is averaging a double-double of 13.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, thus far this season, so her absence was greatly felt by the Sky, who dropped to 7-17.

Related: Angel Reese Injury Addressed by Sky Coach After Storm Defeat

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.