Rickea Jackson Dropped 5 Points in 1:41 and the Sky Just Beat the Valkyries at Their Own Game

The Chicago Sky are 2-0 and nobody in the WNBA saw this coming. A team that went 10-34 last season just rolled into San Francisco on Wednesday and walked out with a 69-63 road win over the Golden State Valkyries, and it wasn't pretty, but it was exactly what a rebuilding squad needs: a grind-it-out victory when nothing was falling.

Rickea Jackson made sure the Sky didn't fold when it mattered most. After watching her team limp through the first half shooting just 24 points, Jackson saved her best work for the final stretch. She dropped 18 points total, but five of those came in the final 1:41, including a clutch 3-pointer with 1:57 left that pushed the lead to five after Golden State had clawed within two. She added two free throws with 46.7 seconds remaining to seal it.

The Defense Did the Heavy Lifting

Here's what matters: Chicago shot 36.2% from the field and 30% from three. That's not a winning formula. But the Sky absolutely smothered Golden State, holding the Valkyries to just 29.3% shooting and 26.9% from beyond the arc. That's the difference between a team that's turned itself around and a team still figuring things out.

Kamilla Cardoso was everywhere on defense, pulling down seven rebounds and swatting two blocks. Jacy Sheldon added 12 points and three steals. Skylar Diggins ran the offense with 15 points and a game-high seven assists, chipping in two blocks of her own alongside Jackson. When you're playing that kind of suffocating perimeter defense, even an ugly shooting night doesn't matter.

Golden State Couldn't Get Out of the Gate

This is brutal for the Valkyries. They'd won their first two games and were averaging 93 points coming in. Nothing was working Wednesday. Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton both scored 18 points for Golden State, but 2025 All-Star Kayla Thornton went completely scoreless on 11 missed shots, including 0-for-3 from three. Kiah Stokes gave them 11 rebounds and five blocks, but it wasn't enough.

Chicago trailed by as much as 12 in the first half but locked in after halftime, building an eight-point lead and then hanging on in the final minutes. Sheldon sank a layup with 23.8 seconds to play, and Diggins nailed two free throws with 19.4 seconds left, but the Sky's defense had already done the job.

Two road wins to start the season. That's a statement from a team nobody believed in.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.