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As the Chicago Sky navigate a daunting early schedule, star Angel Reese finds herself amid more drama.

Meanwhile, the New York Liberty already appear focused on defending their WNBA title.

Reese and the Sky look to rebound from a rough opener when they host the Liberty on Thursday night.

Chicago (0-1) shot a dismal 29.1 percent, while allowing Indiana to make nearly 47 percent of its shots during Saturday’s 93-58 road loss. It was a disappointing start to the Tyler Marsh coaching era for the Sky, which was made worse by some non-basketball drama.

Caitlin Clark was whistled for a hard foul on Reese in the second half, which incensed Reese, who charged after Clark after the fact. Clark was given a flagrant foul, with both players assessed technicals. Afterward, racial remarks were allegedly directed toward Reese by fans in Indianapolis, which the WNBA is now investigating.

All of that controversy ending up overshadowing Reese’s 12 points and 17 rebounds.

“For (Reese), it’s about basketball,” Marsh said. “That’s where her mind is at, and we want to be as locked in as possible to our game plan for (New York).”

Even completely focused, the Sky face a difficult task against the Liberty (1-0), who used a 28-15 second quarter to distance themselves in Saturday’s 92-78 home win over Las Vegas.

Moments after the franchise raised its first championship banner, Breanna Stewart scored 25, newcomer Natasha Cloud added 22 and Jonquel Jones posted 17 with 10 rebounds as the Liberty shot 48.6 percent despite going 4-of-21 from three-point range.

“It’s something we’ll continue to build on over these next weeks,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello, whose team held the Aces to 34.1 percent from the field.

“Yes, our goal is to win another championship. … It’s gonna be hard, but let’s embrace the hard.”

New York won the final three of four 2024 meetings against Chicago, which has lost six straight overall dating to last season.

Back with Chicago after helping the Liberty win a year ago, veteran Courtney Vandersloot knows the Sky must improve to have a chance Thursday.

“I’d really like to think that we’re not going to play that bad again,” Vandersloot, who had four points with five assists at Indiana, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

–Field Level Media