5 hours ago 1

Angel Reese Makes Strong Statement to Dawn Staley Ahead of Fever-Sky

While Angel Reese's star continues to rise inside and outside the WNBA, one thing that has not quite risen yet has been her offensive stats on the floor for the Chicago Sky. Reese is leading the league with 12.3 rebounds per game, but she is averaging just 10.0 points and shooting only 31.1% from the field, both of which are down from her rookie year, in which she shot 39.1% and averaged 13.6 points.

Reese's turnover numbers have also jumped to 3.8 per game, from 2.2 last year.

She has not had a game in which she has shot 50% from the field this season and, in fact, has only had one game in which she made 40%, on May 25 against the Aces.

But the Sky have essentially had a week off here in early June, having last played on Sunday against the Wings, a team they beat twice last week to bolster their record.

Before the start of Saturday's showdown against the Indiana Fever, who are still playing without star guard Caitlin Clark (quad), Reese chatted with the new CBS Sports pregame show, hosted by Sarah Kustok and featuring Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley.

Staley engaged Reese on a question about her sophomore WNBA season, and how it compared to her rookie year.

"Obviously, I started off rough. I feel like it's gonna come. But I trust my work, I trust my teammates, my coaches have a lot of confidence in me as well,' Reese said.

Staley also asked Reese what viewers could expect from her on Saturday. "We need to get a win tonight. Obviously having this two-game winning streak isn't enough for us so getting this win is going to be great," she said.

Kustok asked about the Sky hitting their stride with two straight wins, boosting their record to 2-4 to start the season. Both of those wins, again, came against the struggling Dallas Wings.

"We're gelling at the right time," Reese told Staley and Kustok. "We're not supposed to look now in June how we look in September. We have great vets here who have kept me and Kamilla poised, our young players. We have great people around us. This week off has been great for us, we had great practices."