Alyssa Thomas ejected after hard foul, Flagrant 2 on Angel Reese
Angel Reese made her home debut in Chicago on Saturday, and the Sky crowd was treated to some extracurricular activities during the opener.
With 3:41 to play in the third quarter, and Chicago trailing league-leading Connecticut by one, Reese jockeyed for position on an offensive rebound. Sun veteran Alyssa Thomas got tangled with the rookie on the box out and knocked Reese to the ground with her left arm, resulting in a flagrant 2 upon replay review and an ejection.
Thomas, who finished second in MVP voting in 2023, is one of the most physical players in the league but has only been whistled for seven flagrant fouls — all flagrant 1s — since being drafted to the WNBA in 2014. Her ejection is the first of the season across the league and cut short the matchup between former Maryland players.
After the game, Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said she didn’t think an ejection was coming.
“I never even saw the replay,” Weatherspoon said on the foul. “I just heard what Angel said and I figured something was going to come back. I didn’t know what was going to come back.”
Reese and Thomas had been battling on the boards throughout the game, with both collecting two offensive rebounds before Thomas’ exit but Thomas outpaced Reese on the defensive glass 4-1. Reese outscored Thomas 13-9 through three quarters.
“No hard feelings to AT,” Reese said postgame. “I know she purposely probably didn’t do it towards me, but just being able to come out there and just be strong and stand on two feet, it was going to be a tough game and that’s what I’m built for.”
“It’s not just because I’m a rookie. I’m a player. I’m a basketball player. They don’t give a damn if I’m a rookie. I mean, I want them to come at me every day. I want them to come at everybody. I mean, they’re not supposed to be nice to me. I hope y’all know that. They’re not supposed to be nice to me or lay down because I’m Angel Reese or because I’m a rookie. Like, thank you AT for sending a message to me because I got back up and I kept going to keep and kept pushing like me and AT have been cool since we were at Maryland so I know it’s no hard feelings. I appreciate her for going at me today.”
Angel Reese spoke pregame about how excited she was to face off against Alyssa Thomas and Bri Jones, who she admired since they were at Maryland: “Those are players I’ve had my eye on.” pic.twitter.com/K0MJLbhZvb
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) May 26, 2024
Reese has been arguably the most consistently productive rookie during her debut season, posting double-digit scoring outputs in every game to go along with 8.7 rebounds per outing. The Sky were 2-1 entering the matchup against Connecticut, coming off an upset of the Liberty in New York while the Sun were the WNBA’s lone remaining undefeated team.
