Sky Snag First Round Playoff Win Despite Wings Powering Back in Second Half

Kahleah Copper carried Chicago with 23 points while Candace Parker showered 15 rebounds.

The WNBA playoffs have arrived, and the first team has already fallen out of championship contention. 

Sky topped Dallas, 81-64, during Thursday night's single elimination game, out-rebounding the Wings despite a faulty third quarter. Chicago held a strong lead at first, heading into halftime with a comfortable 44-29 lead. 

However, the Wings came out firing in the third quarter, tallying 21 points to Chicago's 11 and narrowing the lead margin by only five points. But a 26-point fourth quarter—14 coming in the final four minutes (and a few seconds)—helped secure Chicago's victory. 

Here's who and what plays stood out Thursday night. 

Sky's Kahleah Copper popped off. 

The 26-year-old guard dominated in the first quarter, racking up 12 points and went 6-for-7 from the field. By the end of the night, Copper lead both teams with 23 points—a playoff career high for he; however, Wings' Arike Ogunbowale came close with 22. 

KAHHH 😎

After 1Q of play, @kahleahcopper has racked up 12 PTS and is 6-for-7 from the field

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/cOwd8jrDCF

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 24, 2021

Sky's Candace Parker showed she is the rebound queen.

During the first half alone, the forward tallied nine rebounds, and by the end of the night, she snagged 15 total rebounds. Parker locked herself in at No. 4 on the all-time playoff rebounds leaders list, trailing icons like Lisa Leslie (471) and Tamika Catchings (598). 

But, as noted during the postgame interviews, the game was largely won on the defensive side. Parker tallied 13 defensive rebounds, and the next closest player was Wings' Isabelle Harrison with eight.  

.@Candace_Parker is a rebounding machine in the post season 🤩

Parker has moved up to no.4 on the all-time playoff rebounds leaders list#CountIt pic.twitter.com/oYjj7cfaLV

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 24, 2021