With one game left in the season, the Chicago Sky were long ago eliminated from WNBA playoff contention.
But one minor stake remains for All-Star forward Angel Reese: defending her title as the league’s leading rebounder.
Reese enters Thursday night’s game against the New York Liberty at Wintrust Arena with 12.6 rebounds per game, comfortably ahead of Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (9.9). And Reese — who missed a third consecutive game Tuesday night in Las Vegas — has played 30 games this season, which passes the league minimum of 28 to qualify as a statistical leader.
As a rookie last season, Reese led the league with 13.1 rebounds per game, though she finished second in total rebounds, five behind Wilson, who played four more games.
That scenario appears likely to repeat. Reese trails Wilson 388-377 in total rebounds — a sizable gap to close even if she plays Thursday.
Reese sat out the Sky’s 92-61 loss to the Aces on Tuesday with a back injury that has sidelined her for nearly a quarter of the season. The Sky listed her as questionable and she warmed up before the game, but coach Tyler Marsh ruled her out shortly before tipoff.
It was the 12th game Reese has missed because of the back injury, which initially emerged after the All-Star break in July. The Sky (10-33) have won only one game without Reese in the lineup.
Reese missed each of the last three games for different reasons.
She was suspended by the league for Friday’s road game against the Indiana Fever after accumulating her eighth technical foul last Wednesday against the Connecticut Sun. And she was suspended by the Sky for the first half of Sunday’s game against the Aces for “statements detrimental to the team,” which she made in an interview with the Tribune.
Reese sat on the bench while fulfilling her suspension Sunday and was expected to play in the second half. However, the Sky announced at halftime that she had been ruled out for the rest of the game because of the back injury.
Although Reese wasn’t listed on the injury report before Sunday’s game, she did wear a compression wrap on her back during warmups.
The Aces’ back-to-back victories over the Sky extended their winning streak to 15 games and put them in a tie with the Atlanta Dream for the second playoff seed at 29-14 entering Wednesday. Lincolnwood native Jewell Loyd became the 16th WNBA player to reach 6,000 career points, scoring 15 on Tuesday against her hometown team.
Kamilla Cardoso had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Sky, and Michaela Onyenwere also scored 13.
Associated Press contributed.
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