Sky vs. Sun: Skylar Diggins Scores 24 and Elizabeth Williams Closes an 85-80 Win to End a 5-Game Skid

Chicago scored 11 points in the first quarter. Eleven. Connecticut had a 14-0 run in that same period, the crowd at Wintrust Arena had every reason to check the parking validation, and a five-game losing streak looked very much like it was about to become six.

Then the Sky woke up. Skylar Diggins poured in 24, Elizabeth Williams hit the two biggest shots of the game in the final minute, and the Chicago Sky walked off with an 85-80 win over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night. It was Chicago's first win since May 17 and its first at home all season, and it took most of the night to make up for one terrible stretch.

From Buried to Back in It

Connecticut hit Chicago with nine straight early in the first to turn a 4-0 deficit into a 9-4 lead. The Sky tied it at nine, and that is when things really fell apart. A 14-0 Sun run between the 4:32 and 1:01 marks made it 23-9, and it was 25-11 after one. The Connecticut lead reached 15.

Then Chicago scored 32 points in the second quarter. Diggins did the heavy lifting, getting to 18 points by halftime, and the Sky went to the break down only 45-43. A deficit that had looked fatal was nearly gone in 10 minutes.

The third quarter brought the lead change. Down 49-47, Chicago scored eight straight in under a minute to go ahead 55-49, and Natasha Cloud later scored five in a row, including a 3 with 1:37 left, to make it 63-56. It was 65-61 Sky going to the fourth, and Chicago never quite got comfortable, never leading by more than seven. Brittney Griner made sure of that, hitting back-to-back Connecticut baskets to cut it to 74-72. Cloud answered with a 3 for a 77-72 lead, but Saniya Rivers and Nell Angloma scored to make it 77-76 with 2:30 left.

Diggins Starts It, Williams Finishes It

Diggins was the reason Chicago had a chance at all. She shot 6-of-16 and got to the line constantly, finishing 10-of-11 there with two 3s and four assists. Most of her work came early, with 18 of her points in the first half, but she also made the three-point play with 1:20 left and the free throw that closed it. She is the one who kept the Sky from packing it in after that disaster of an opening, which might be the most valuable thing she did all night.

Williams was the opposite: nothing in the first half, then all 10 of her points after the break. She came off the bench and shot 5-of-8, with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 21 minutes. Cloud was just as important off the bench, scoring 13 on 4-of-6 shooting, going 2-for-2 from 3 and handing out five assists. Azura Stevens had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Kamilla Cardoso added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Jacy Sheldon only took two shots, made both and finished plus-14, the best number in the game.

For Connecticut, Griner was excellent, scoring 16 on 6-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Diamond Miller also scored 16, though it took her 15 shots. Rivers had 14 on 6-of-9 and kept hitting big shots late. Aneesah Morrow vacuumed up 17 rebounds, but she shot just 3-of-14 and finished with eight points. Leila Lacan had a rough one, with three points on 1-of-8 shooting before fouling out.

The Last 48.9 Seconds Belonged to Elizabeth Williams

Here is where it got good. Diggins' and-one put Chicago up 80-76, and Rivers answered from the corner with a 3 at 1:04, cutting it to 80-79. Every person in the building knew what kind of game this was now. A team on a five-game skid knows exactly how this kind of night tends to end.

Instead, Williams took over. She scored in the lane with 48.9 seconds left to make it 82-79. Then, with Connecticut still within a possession, she scored again from six feet with 14.5 seconds left for an 84-79 lead. Rivers made a free throw with 11 seconds left, and Diggins did the same at 7.8. That was the game. A reserve with zero points at halftime had just delivered the two shots that ended a five-game slide.

Stats That Matter

• 32-20: Chicago's second-quarter margin, the swing that made everything else possible.
• 40-28: Connecticut's rebounding edge, with 14 offensive boards. It was not enough.
• 6-of-16 vs. 4-of-18: The 3-point split, a modest difference that loomed large in a five-point game.
• 19-15: The Sky's advantage in points off turnovers.
• 7-7: Blocks. Both teams protected the rim, with Griner and Rachel Banham each swatting three.

Where Everybody Stands

Chicago moves to 4-6 and 1-4 at home. All three of the Sky's earlier wins came on the road, so they will take any home cooking they can get, even if it arrived very late in the meal. They go right back on the road to play Toronto on Sunday.

Connecticut falls to 2-10 and 1-7 on the road, with a second straight loss. The record is ugly, but this was one of the more competitive showings a team in that position can put together, and Griner's two-way work gives the Sun something real to build around. They go home to play New York on Monday.

The Pilot Was Terrible, the Season Finale Was Great

Television has a long tradition of shows that nearly get canceled after a disastrous pilot and then turn into something worth watching. Chicago compressed that whole arc into 40 minutes on Friday. The first quarter was the episode nobody should have greenlit. The rest of the game was the show finding its voice, and the last minute belonged to a reserve who had not scored before halftime. A five-game losing streak does not end pretty, as a rule. This one ended with Williams going from invisible to indispensable, and the Sky are not going to apologize for how it looked.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press.