Angel Reese playing against the Seattle Storm on Friday July 5.© Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese tallied her 13th consecutive double-double during a game against the Seattle Storm Sunday to surpass WNBA-great Candace Parker’s all-time record for the most consecutive double-doubles over multiple seasons.
Reese nearly had a double-double at halftime of the Sky’s 84-71 loss to the Seattle Storm. However, it wasn’t until a layup midway through the third quarter that the rookie made history. She finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and four steals.
“I’m just trying to be consistent for my teammates, doing whatever I can to help my team,” Reese said after the game. “I think I didn’t do enough tonight but just being able to be there for my teammates and knowing that I have a job to do no matter if I’m a rookie or a vet.”
Chicago led for most of the first half after jumping out to a 12-3 lead in the first quarter. The Sky held Seattle to three points on offense until Nneka Ogwumike made a three-pointer with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
Seattle kept inching back into the game and trailed 39-31 at halftime. With Ogwumike and Jewell Loyd leading the charge, the Storm broke out on a 16-2 run to rally and take a five-point lead in the third quarter.
The Sky had no answer to the Storm’s hot shooting, trailing by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter before orchestrating a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to three points with 2:49 remaining in the game.
Seattle responded with a 12-0 run to close out the victory at Climate Pledge Arena. Ogwumike finished the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Loyd added 20 points.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Reese made history last week, after recording her 10th straight double-double in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx to pass Parker, who had nine straight at the end of the 2009 season for the most in a single season.
The two-time MVP Parker extended her streak to 12 total at the beginning of the 2010 season before Reese matched it on Friday night and then broke the record Sunday.
Reese entered Sunday night’s game averaging 13.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game so far in her rookie season. She currently leads the league in rebounds.
“She’s the G.O.A.T,” Reese said of Parker. “I’ve always respected CP3, and I try even to take some things from her game and try to add them to mine. And just being able to be named with an amazing player like that is always going to be special to me.
The No. 7 pick in the WNBA Draft is considered a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, alongside the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark.
Clark on Saturday made some history of her own, becoming the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple double.
According to the NBA, a double-double is achieved when a player reaches 10 or more in two of the statistical categories of points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
A triple-double is achieved when a player reaches double figures in three of those categories, it says.