Sky vs. Valkyries: Rickea Jackson's Late 3 Hands Golden State Its First Loss of the Season, 69-63

Nobody is putting this one in an instructional video on offense. Chicago started 3 of 13. Golden State's Kayla Thornton went 0 for 11. The two teams combined to block 17 shots, and the rim at Chase Center spent most of the night looking like it had a personal grudge against everyone in the building. Then, with 1:41 left and the Sky clinging to a 60-58 lead, Rickea Jackson rose up from 23 feet and ended the argument.

That 3 was the biggest shot in a 69-63 Chicago win on Wednesday night, the first loss of the season for the Golden State Valkyries and, according to the Sky, the first time the franchise has ever beaten them. Jackson scored 18 and Skylar Diggins added 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds, which in this game counted as an offensive explosion.

A Brutal First Half, a Better Second

The Valkyries could not have asked for a better start. Golden State went up 17-5 on a 9-0 run with the crowd of 18,064 roaring, and the Sky looked like they were shooting in the dark. They missed all 11 of their 3-point attempts in the first half and were held to 24 points on 10-of-37 shooting, the lowest total of any team in a half so far this season, per the Valkyries.

Here is the wild part: Chicago trailed by only 28-24 at the break. Golden State shot 4 for 20 in the second quarter and scored nine points in it, giving back most of a first-quarter lead that had reached 12. This was two very good defenses on a day when neither offense could find the door.

The third quarter is where the Sky finally found a pulse. An 8-0 run flipped a 36-34 deficit into a 42-36 lead, the only lead change of the game, and Chicago was up 49-44 after three. It reached 54-46 in the fourth before Veronica Burton woke up the building. Her two 3s fueled an 8-0 Valkyries run that tied it at 54 with just over six minutes left, and the noise inside Chase Center suggested the home team had finally turned the corner.

It lasted about one possession.

Jackson, Diggins and a Defense That Traveled

Jackson shot just 6 of 18, and it did not matter even a little. She finished with 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 39 minutes, in only her second game with the Sky, and she defended too: the team says she was the closest defender on five of Thornton's 11 misses. Thornton had scored 19 in the 95-79 win over Phoenix on Sunday, which made this rare off night stand out even more.

Diggins never turned it over in 34 minutes while also blocking two shots. Jacy Sheldon might have been the most useful player on the floor, with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. Natasha Cloud had seven points and four rebounds off the bench in her Sky debut.

Gabby Williams led Golden State with 18 points and three 3s, though she needed 17 shots to get there. Burton had 16 on 5-of-15 shooting and five turnovers. The real story on the Valkyries' side was Kiah Stokes, who posted seven points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in a season-high 29 minutes before fouling out. No WNBA player had blocked more shots in a game this season, the team says. "She is a force. Her defense is top notch," coach Natalie Nakase said. Kaila Charles also gave Golden State nine points and nine rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass.

Sheldon's Reply, Jackson's Exclamation Point

The game turned the moment Burton's tying 3 went in, because Sheldon drilled one of her own at the other end almost immediately. That response killed the Valkyries' momentum before it could become anything real. Golden State never took the lead back.

They did get close. Free throws by Williams and Stokes made it 58-56, and after Gabriela Jaquez's layup, Charles drove in to cut it to 60-58 with 1:57 left. Then Jackson took a pass from Kamilla Cardoso and buried the 3. She added two free throws for 65-58 with 46.7 seconds to go, and although Williams hit a 27-foot step-back to make it 65-61, Sheldon's layup with about 24 seconds left and two Diggins free throws closed it out.

Stats That Matter

• 22 of 75: Golden State from the field, or 29 percent. The Sky rank it as the third-lowest field goal percentage any opponent has posted against Chicago in franchise history.
• 0 of 11: Thornton, who started and played 30 minutes without scoring.
• 19-10: Assists in Chicago's favor, with the Sky assisting on 19 of their 25 baskets while Golden State managed just 10 on 22.
• 17: Total blocks, nine for Golden State and eight for Chicago. Good luck to anyone who dared drive the lane.
• 14: Valkyries offensive rebounds, part of a 42-39 edge on the boards. All those extra chances, and the shots still would not fall.

Two Teams Headed Different Directions, Briefly

Chicago is 2-0, both wins on the road, and the Sky say it is their first 2-0 start in three years. Their season-opening, four-game trip continues Friday at Phoenix.

Golden State falls to 2-1 and 1-1 at home, and it now faces a long wait before visiting New York next Thursday. The crowd, at least, is not going anywhere: the team counted this as its 24th consecutive regular-season sellout. There was also a nice subplot on the sidelines, with Nakase facing Chicago coach Tyler Marsh, her friend and former colleague from Becky Hammon's staff in Las Vegas.

Positive Vibes and an Ugly Scoreboard

"There's a lot of positives to take away," Burton said afterward, before adding the only sentence that really mattered: "We'd obviously prefer to be 3-0." That is about right. The Valkyries defended well enough to win almost any game in which they make a third of their shots. They just happened to run into a team that was willing to play ugly for 40 minutes and had a forward with the nerve to take the biggest shot of the night after missing most of the others. Sometimes that is all it takes.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Quotes and team notes from the Chicago Sky and Golden State Valkyries team recaps.