Angel Reese’s WNBA debut came with its ups and downs as she put up 12 points on 5 of 13 shooting in the Chicago Sky’s season-opening 87-79 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night.
The “Chi Barbie” put up seven points in the fourth quarter alone after a slow start to her first professional game during the league’s second night of the 2024 campaign.
It was the second highly anticipated debut from a member of the 2024 WNBA Draft class in as many nights after Caitlin Clark’s first game with the Fever on Tuesday.
Reese, after nearly notching a double-double, said she wasn’t completely satisfied with her effort where she pulled down eight rebounds and turned the ball over twice.
“It wasn’t even nerves,” Reese said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘I was just missing. I still feel like I didn’t play my best game because I left six on the free-throw line.”
Reese’s first WNBA point came on a free throw with 1:27 left in the second quarter, and her first field goal came 15 seconds into the third quarter off a layup.
The LSU product had an impressive sequence early in the fourth quarter when she scored on a driving layup and then picked the pocket of a Wings opponent on the defensive end moments later to take it the other way for an easy layup.
Reese on Wednesday night was given a loud ovation when her name was called during player introductions ahead of the game in Arlington, Texas at College Park Center, and her opponents recognized her presence on the floor — and off of it — on Wednesday.
“She’s [Angel Reese] a great player on and off the court,” Arika Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings said after the game. “She’s doing what she needs to do for women, for the “W”. This is her first game, obviously. She has a long career, but this is a good start for her.”
Rapper Latto was on hand on Wednesday to support Reese, sitting courtside for the game.
Latto previously featured Reese in the music video for “Put It On Da Floor Again,” which featured Cardi B.
