Sports
Greenberg: Angel Reese walks the walk in Sky's rivalry win over Caitlin Clark, Fever
CHICAGO — With 43.4 seconds left and the clock stopped after a foul, Angel Reese walked by herself toward the faraway Chicago Sky basket, smiling and clapping with that familiar look on her face.
Forget Vogue and the Met Gala, this was a proper runway.
After two losses to the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis, Reese and the Sky were in the lead, in control, and Reese knew it.
While the remaining basketball after that moment was, to put it nicely, a little frenzied, Reese and the Sky held on for an 88-87 victory over Caitlin Clark and the Fever on Sunday at a raucous, packed Wintrust Arena.
Round 3 goes to Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky.
During the week leading up to the game, Sky forward Marina Mabrey told a few of us that if this really were a rivalry, she hoped it would be billed as “Sky-Fever” and not “Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese.” Mabrey knew the drama was good for the league but didn’t think the two highly scrutinized rookies needed that extra weight.
But let’s be real: Clark and Reese are inexorably linked after their college battles. After two Clark wins in the WNBA portion of this personal series, it was Reese who came out on top in a nationally televised ESPN game, and she needed it.
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are inexorably linked. (Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Associated Press)
On the 40th anniversary of the Ryne Sandberg Game on the North Side, Chicago got the Angel Reese Game in the South Loop.
In the win, which moved the Sky (6-9) just past the Fever (7-11) in the WNBA standings, Reese had 25 points and 16 rebounds. It was her eighth consecutive double-double, and she became the first rookie to have a 25-15 line since A’ja Wilson in 2018.
Ryno’s statue outside of Wrigley Field was unveiled at the same time this game tipped off, but there was no better place to be in Chicago other than Wintrust Arena. This was a real-deal, big-time basketball game. There was no viral drama about technical fouls, no talks of jealousy or chips on shoulders. It was just two up-and-coming teams starring rookies with championship dreams.
It was a sellout crowd of 9,872. Tickets were going for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market and the Sky gave out 75 media credentials.
Celebrities abounded, though most were of the local variety. Caitlin Clark super-fan Jason Sudeikis sat next to Chance the Rapper on one end of the court, while Knicks point guard and suburban Chicago native Jalen Brunson was near rapper Lil Durk on the other. We had a halftime concert from Durk and a pregame set from Vic Mensa. Bears president Kevin Warren probably would’ve given a speech if anyone had asked. Reese got a huge hug from Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes after the game.
“I mean, of course it’s good for the game,” Reese said. “Good for women’s basketball, but also good for women’s sports. You see NBA players, rappers, legends that played in the league for long time, come out and stand and show support. Everybody’s watching right now. I think this is one of the most important times right now. We just continue to keep putting on. I think both teams did an amazing job putting on a show. And it was fun. I had a great time. I’m sure the other team had a great time. So I’m just happy we won tonight.”
Not to doubt Reese, but I’m not so sure the Fever had a great time after blowing a 15-point lead in the third quarter. They had plenty of chances down the stretch but seemed out of sync in their offense, shooting 5-of-17 from the field and committing four turnovers in the fourth. Though she still finished with 17 points and 13 assists, Clark was almost invisible late in the game.
Meanwhile, Reese was spurring the Sky to the win with 10 points and 5 rebounds in the fourth.
“It was amazing, you know,” said her rookie teammate Kamilla Cardoso, who was pretty amazing herself with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. “Just her energy. I feel like she brings a lot of energy for all of us. It rubs off.”
There was a moment midway through the fourth when Fever forward NaLyssa Smith scored on Reese and gave the “too small” gesture. On the other end, Reese scored on Smith and drew the foul for a three-point play. The two barked each other for the rest of the game, though Reese would later play coy about Smith’s disrespect.
“My teammates had to tell me about that,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t even know she did that. That’s crazy. Me and NaLyssa, I’ve been competing against each other since I was at Maryland and she was at Baylor, so it’s nothing. No hard feelings. Me and Nalyssa just two great competitors.”
Their back-and-forth gave the end of the game a little more juice. That’s for sure. This is just entertainment, after all. And while Clark knows how to command the spotlight, Reese’s game is down in the blocks. While Clark has made her fame and fortune as a long-range shooter and a passing whiz (some of her passes Sunday lifted me out of my baseline seat), Reese can win a game in the paint.
Just before she walked down the court clapping, Reese got a play called for her out of a timeout and she hit a jump hook just outside the restricted area to put the Sky up 86-84.
“I’m a dog,” Reese told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “You can’t teach that.”
Angel Reese: “I’m a dog, you can’t teach that” pic.twitter.com/TRdDgyNPa0
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 23, 2024
But, she later elaborated, you can teach her how to improve. Film review helps.
Reese, who came into the game shooting below 40 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line, went 8-of-12 and 9-of-11, respectively. While she had “only” three offensive rebounds, below her league-leading average of 4.7, she led everyone with 13 defensive rebounds. She had only one personal foul in 36 minutes.
“I was efficient tonight, finally,” she said. “I didn’t get in foul trouble, finally. I got some rebounds. I mean, I turned the ball over three times but I feel like I’m just getting better. I’m gaining confidence. I’ve watched film with T-Spoon (coach Teresa Weatherspoon). I’ve watched film with David (Simon, the player development coach). He showed me every shot that I’ve missed, every shot that I’ve missed around the basket. That’s why I tried to take my time today, finish around the basket. I’m getting and-1s and I’m being more efficient, so I just continue to try to grow every game.”
It wasn’t just her coaches who gave her the advice of slowing herself down with the ball.
“(Atlanta Dream forward) Tina Charles told me I got as much time as I need around the basket, and I that’s what I took today,” Reese said.
Time. It’s something that both Reese and Clark have plenty of. They went right from the NCAA Tournament into the WNBA season, and it seems like it’s been one big news cycle since March. But whenever someone starts going off on something Reese says, I want to remind them that she’s just 22 years old. The same with Clark, who deals with unreal expectations and a never-ending culture war outside of her control.
“I’m a perfectionist,” Reese said. “So it’s kind of hard. I’m really hard on myself, and I don’t try to get myself grace, but I’ve been trying to get myself grace. My teammates and our coaches have done a great job texting me and telling me, like, ‘You’re doing great. You’re fine. You’re doing a really good job.’ I do have a lot on my plate. I do have a lot going on, and (they) just being able to reassure me is something I need.”
When it comes to their rivalry, we’ll judge them, of course, on wins and losses.
Reese won the national title in 2023 and Clark got her revenge, albeit in the Elite Eight, this spring. Clark got the first two in the WNBA and Reese took the third. They’ll play again at the end of August in Chicago with a possible playoff spot on the line.
I’m predicting that Chicago and the WNBA will once again have Sky Fever.
(Top photo: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
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The Seattle Seahawks came away with their eighth win of the season on Sunday, and once again, it was star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba playing a large role in the victory.
This time, though, Smith-Njigba, the NFL’s leader in receiving yards, made some Seahawks history in the process.
The second-year receiver out of Ohio State set the single-season franchise record for receiving yards after totaling 167 in the 30-24 victory.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates after defeating the Tennessee Titans in the game at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Coming into the game, Smith-Njigba needed 150 yards to break D.K. Metcalf’s record of 1,303, which he set in 2020. After Sam Darnold found his favorite target for a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter, it was not only another deep touchdown connection between the two, but it made it quite possible that Smith-Njigba would break Metcalf’s record in just his 11th game of the season.
Smith-Njigba later reached the yardage needed in the third quarter, and that total is only expected to grow with six games left in the regular season.
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It was clear that Smith-Njigba was going to be a great receiver in the league when he tallied 100 receptions for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns during his rookie campaign in 2024. But with a new quarterback in Darnold — Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason — there were questions entering the year about whether the offense would look the same.
Darnold has proven to be the right fit for Klint Kubiak’s offense, and Smith-Njigba has set a new career high in touchdowns and appears poised to shatter his receptions total as well.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates after catching a pass for a touchdown in the second quarter of the game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
It’s worth noting that Metcalf was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason, partly due to Smith-Njigba’s emergence as a top pass-catching option during his rookie season.
The Seahawks also announced that Smith-Njigba has moved into the league record books. He now has the fifth-most receiving yards through the first 11 games of a season in the Super Bowl era, passing the great Julio Jones on that list.
No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans’ offense made things interesting late, as Chimere Dike caught a touchdown to bring them within six points in the fourth quarter. But Seattle’s defense, which has been a solid unit all season, came through in the end.
Fox One/Fox Nation special promotion. (Fox News)
Smith-Njigba finished the game with two touchdowns for Seattle, while Zach Charbonnet added a rushing score for the Seahawks.
Smith-Njigba will look to add to his single-season total next Sunday when the Seahawks return home to host the Minnesota Vikings.
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During practice Friday, UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close made it clear she wanted to see more from forward Angela Dugalic.
“You’re not using what you’ve earned,” Close recalled telling her while speaking with reporters Friday.
Dugalic is going to face some of the best players in the country this week. Close thinks she can match up with them, but she needs Dugalic to play like it. With all the work Dugalic has done on her low-post game over the offseason, she can’t settle for floating around the perimeter.
Close won’t let her.
“I just want her to be all she can be,” Close said. “She’s been an animal down there in the low post, and I want her to hunt for that. I don’t want her to settle for playing on the perimeter when she’s got a whole lot more tools in her toolbox that she’s not accessing.”
Close got that version of Dugalic in Sunday’s 88-37 rout of Southern at Pauley Pavilion. The third-ranked Bruins were in full control from whistle to whistle, even pitching a second-quarter shutout, and Dugalic led the way with 20 points, five rebounds and an assist. She shot eight for 15 from the floor with a trio of three-pointers.
It was pure dominance by UCLA. The Bruins shot 51% from the field while holding the Jaguars to 29%. They outrebounded Southern by 30. They forced 13 turnovers, nine in the first half, and scored 28 points off them. And on the offensive end, UCLA was flowing with 24 assists to Southern’s nine.
Gabriela Jaquez added eight rebounds, six points and five assists. Her first basket, a layup after cutting through the paint in the second quarter, gave the senior guard her 1,000th career point. Kiki Rice had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Lauren Betts finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
Dugalic opened the scoring for UCLA with a midrange jumper followed by a fast-break layup. She finished the first half with 12 points, tied for the team lead with freshman forward Lena Bilic, who finished the game with 14 points.
Despite Dugalic’s strong start, Close issued her another challenge at halftime.
“I just want you to focus on making the right basketball play,” Close said. “What’s the defense doing? I didn’t think she was reading the defense. I thought she shot it well, and I thought she got some great rebounds, but I didn’t think she was in the flow that we’ve been seeing from her the last few days and our last few games.”
Close added that she thinks Dugalic is playing some of the best basketball of her career, and she’s continuously fighting to raise her standard. It’s not about how many points Dugalic scores, it’s about her decision-making, her defense, her consistency.
The Bruins entered the second quarter with a 22-9 lead thanks to a 14-2 run over the final six minutes of the first quarter after holding Southern (1-4) scoreless during the final three minutes. UCLA then exploded for a 27-0 run in the second quarter while holding the Jaguars scoreless for the entire period. It was the first time the Bruins held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter since Dec. 5, 2021 against San José State.
Still, Close wasn’t satisfied.
During halftime, Close said she reminded the Bruins of what they want to accomplish. Close wrote down a list of “passion plays,” or goals for every player for the second half.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice controls the ball in front of Southern forward DeMya Porter during the first half of the Bruins’ win Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)
It’s part of a mentality Close is trying to instill in her players. They know a 51-point win against an unranked Southern team isn’t going to give them the feedback they need.
“Outcomes are actually a distraction,” Close said, referencing legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban. “What are the processes that we’re going to be committed to that are going to actually lead us to where we want to go?”
UCLA (6-0) will face No. 4 Texas on Wednesday in the Players Era Women’s Championship in Las Vegas, followed by either No. 2 South Carolina or Duke on Thanksgiving. The Bruins then will host No. 15 Tennessee on Nov. 30.
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University of Alabama at Birmingham football players took the field in Birmingham, Alabama, Saturday just hours after tragedy struck.
Two players from UAB were allegedly stabbed by a teammate at the team’s training center ahead of a game against South Florida, a university official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Both were reported to be in stable condition at a hospital. The names of the victims and the player in custody were not released.
Saturday’s game kicked off at 3 p.m. ET, and USF cruised to a 48-18 victory.
Two UAB football players were stabbed hours before their game Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. (Wes Hale/Getty Images)
An online inmate inquiry from the Jefferson County Jail showed that Daniel Israel Mincey, 20, was arrested by the UAB Campus Police just after noon Saturday and is facing charges of “aggravated assault — A to M — attempted murder.” The university would not confirm whether Mincey was a player involved.
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Mincey is a redshirt freshman who joined the team after one season at Kentucky, according to the UAB football roster.
The two players were attacked Saturday morning at the Football Operations Center, the training center for the Blazers’ football program. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
There appeared to be concerns about whether the game would proceed as scheduled given the incident, but a spokesperson confirmed that the university elected to play.
“We’re grateful to report that two players injured in an incident this morning at the Football Operations Building are in stable condition. Our thoughts are with them and their families as they recover. The suspect — another player — remains in custody, and an investigation is taking place,” a spokesperson said.
USF quarterback Byrum Brown threw for 353 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in the blowout win. UAB held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but USF scored 27 unanswered points.
A South Florida Bulls helmet near the sideline during a game between the South Florida Bulls and the Miami Hurricanes Sept. 13, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The highlight of Brown’s day was a 60-yard touchdown pass to Mudia Reuben, which gave USF a 24-10 lead on the first play of the third quarter. Nykahi Davenport added 117 rushing yards and a touchdown run for USF.
UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna had 230 passing yards but was also responsible for three costly interceptions.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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