Sun 94, Sky 84: No excuses

You’ve probably seen by now that Chicago coach Tyler Marsh completely lost it (or crashed out in the modern parlance) in the second quarter of his team’s 94-84 loss to Connecticut Saturday afternoon.

I’ll give him that Elizabeth Williams was fouled by Aaliyah Edwards leading up to it. I’ll even concede that Rebecca Allen was also hit by Bria Hartley in the previous meeting between the two teams, which led to a fracas and three ejections.

But you can’t do that. He charged directly at a WNBA official on the court in an angry manner, and - as frustrated as he was, and as shaky as the WNBA officials have seemed at times this season - that’s not the kind of thing that should acceptable toward employees. He could have argued and gotten a technical, even gotten ejected by walking around the floor, but you can’t get in the face

“It’s been egregious all year,” Marsh said. “The breaking point was, you guys saw it, it was clear as day. I think when stuff like that goes uncalled, things happen like the last time we played Connecticut. I don’t know how you send one of the same refs from that game to ref us tonight, and allow something like that to occur. The first time we played Connecticut this season, there was another ref that was here today that was involved in another altercation. I feel like we’ve been getting the short end of the stick all year.”

Marsh is obviously entitled to his opinion, but embedded in there (and in some of the commentary on national television) is that somehow the Sun are guilty of being dirty. We know Indiana fans are quick to point out that both Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham suffered what look to be season ending injuries against the Sun, even though neither was close to being a foul. 

In the first meeting between Chicago and Connecticut, Angel Reese took exception (rightfully so) that Hartley got some of her hair, but it was reviewed and not given as a flagrant. In the second game, Allen was fouled, it wasn’t called, but Allen grabbed Hartley at the other end, leading to the ejections. Allen was frustrated, but didn’t have to do that. Then today, Edwards should have been called for a foul, but it wasn’t a dirty play by Edwards, who actually took her hands off Williams after she realized what was going on.

It’s not like Connecticut hasn’t had their share of issues with officiating going against it this season. Saturday alone, Tina Charles appeared to be fouled two or three times without a whistle and Leila Lacan missed most of the second half after getting whacked by Reese. Reese didn’t make a dirty play, either, but it looked like a foul at least.

Marsh went on to say he takes full blame for the team’s record, but the words ring somewhat hollow after his first statement. He is coaching the most underachieving team in the league (granted, injuries have hurt his team like others), and now he’s tied for last with the previously lowly Connecticut Sun, who were previously trending as one of the worst teams in WNBA history, but are now better than his team, plain and simple.

Hopefully the league will work to have more consistent officiating, but running up and getting in their face on the court is not a productive way to solve the problem. 

And it’s all just making excuses for how bad his team has been this season.    

What else did we learn Saturday as we should be talking about how the Sun have won four of their last five?:

 

1. Different ways to do it  - You know if always begging for more minutes from Olivia Nelson-Ododa, but she got just eight Saturday. That would seem to be a disaster in trying to defend Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese, and they both had their moments, but the Sun did enough, forcing eight turnovers out of them (six from Cardoso), and “held” the Sky to 10 offensive rebounds (a serviceable 32.23%). That’s plenty when your offense is clicking and you can force 17 total turnovers and get 10 more steals. 

2. Confidence paying off - Saniya Rivers is so much tougher to guard when she is making outside shots, and it just opens up so many things when you can’t just leave her on the perimeter. The broadcast pointed out Aneesah Morrow is shooting just 21% from three-point range, but she hit a huge three in the fourth quarter, and it looks like there’s potential there to improve her outside shot, with the same applying to Leila Lacan, and now you’ve got a dangerous offense. 

3. Showing some late guts -  We know that the Sun has had some trouble holding onto leads, and their 20-point second half lead had shrunk to four with Kia Nurse having her best game of the season and the Connecticut offense ice cold. But the Sun found a way Saturday, hitting some big shots and getting some stops. Holding onto a 20-point lead shouldn’t exactly be celebrated, but it is growth.

Player of the game:  Bria Hartley - Hartley’s minutes have diminished, seeming to give way to the youngsters as we all look toward 2026. But Hartley had an offensive game to remember Saturday, scoring 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc in 32 minutes (inflated a little with Lacan’s absence).

Inside the numbers : 2 -  Number of turnovers in the first half from Connecticut, as they put up 55 points. Some of that is poor defense (Chicago has the league’s worst defense, which I also think can’t be blamed on officials), but the Sun looked sharp, especially with Hartley and Rivers (and Marina Mabrey for a few minutes, at least) hitting shots. 

Under the radar: We’ll have to see what Lacan’s status is for this week, that would be a big loss for the Sun. It was unclear whether it was the facial injury keeping her out or concussion protocol. Obviously, the latter seems like it would probably keep her out longer, but we shall see. Tina Charles (who recorded his 200th career double-double) also got hurt right at the end and with the games coming fast and furious, we’ll see if they rest her at some point.

Connecticut switched to doubling Cardoso, and it was mildly more effective, at least she wasn’t getting layups every time down the court. Kudos to Morrow for outjumping Cardoso on the opening tip.

Quotable:  “A lot of our wins earlier were against pretty good teams, either toward the top or competing for the playoffs. It was just about being more consistent, and I think that comes with getting to know each other, learning each other, and continuing to grow throughout the season.” - Bria Hartley

Next up: Monday at New York, 7 p.m. EDT