PHOENIX— The Sky have their bucket-getter in Rickea Jackson. The forward erupted for 29 points in the Sky’s 91-83 loss to the Mercury on Friday night.
Jackson’s hot streak came in the second half, bringing the team back from down 17 to lead 80-79 with 3:49 remaining. She hit 4 of 10 from three but was also able to get to the basket and hit her mid-range.
“We were communicating with her to stick with it, we’re going to keep finding you the ball because that’s what her ability commands,” coach Tyler Marsh said. “That’s who she is for us. We were able to get her some clean looks and sometimes she was able to make things happen.”
Jackson made a lot happen on her own. But the Sky need to find other options offensively. The team once again shot poorly — especially from three — and failed to find any consistent offensive flow.
Point guard Skylar Diggins and center Kamilla Cardoso are at the center of it. The pick-and-roll between the two looked like a foundational piece of the offense in the season opener, but both have gone quiet since. Diggins did not score in her 11 minutes and Cardoso shot 2 for 6 for 7 points.
Diggins appeared irritated with the officiating and left the game in the second quarter after getting hit in the face by Mercury wing Kahleah Copper. Cardoso was outmatched by Mercury center Natasha Mack, who recorded four blocks and played stingy interior defense.
“I thought we struggled to make some easy ones early,” Marsh said. “A lot of fouls were called early and I think that disrupted our momentum a little bit.”
Marsh pointed to the free-throw disparity: Phoenix shot 41, the Sky 26.
The foul count notwithstanding, other cracks showed on defense. The gameplan was to keep the Mercury off the three-point line, but Phoenix got too many looks in the first half. Jovana Nogic, the Mercury’s 28-year-old Serbian rookie, hit four threes before halftime.
“They got a couple off in transition, more than we would have liked,” guard Jacy Sheldon said. “I think second half we did a better job pushing them off that 3-point line. But we take that away those in the first half, we might not be in as big of a hole.”
Bright spots for the Sky continued to be glue pieces Sheldon and Gabriela Jaquez, who both played well defensively. Marsh went deeper into his rotation and got solid minutes from rookies Aicha Coulibaly and Sydney Taylor, who combined for 13 points.
“AC off the bench, she played about as well as you can play,” Marsh said. “Sydney to come in there unexpectedly provided a spark for us. Super proud of them.”
Marsh did not provide an update on Diggins beyond saying she was hit in the face and that the team was going through protocols to make sure she was alright.