CHICAGO — On the right day, Kamilla Cardoso can’t be stopped. And Thursday was one of those days.

Or, more accurately, a wrong day for any member of the Dallas Wings frontcourt. Cardoso bludgeoned the Wings for the Chicago Sky’s first 10 points of the 97-92 win. For 26 minutes, Cardoso put on a clinic for post play — diving to the low block for layups, crashing through defenders to draw fouls and slipping under her man for seals.

Cardoso set a new career-high with her 23 points. And her play on the other end of the court — swallowing up opponents on defense in the post and passing off mismatches to create kick-out 3-point opportunities — headlined the first win of the Sky season.

“I played with confidence,” Cardoso said. “I finally saw the work that I put in in the offseason translate into this game.”

This is the version of Cardoso that the Sky have been seeking ever since they drafted the Brazilian center with the No. 3 pick last spring.

At 6-foot-7, Cardoso looms over most of her competition — and her physical advantages extend far beyond her height. The center’s size belies her agile feet and remarkable speed, allowing her to space the floor and crash the boards with the swiftness of a smaller player.

But despite these clear advantages, Cardoso’s rookie season was somewhat muted. She averaged 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds. Cardoso often scored in bunches, showing flashes of her physical dominance for a quarter and then receding from the game entirely.

Some of this disconnect can be attributed to a shoulder injury that caused her to start the season late and end it early. But Cardoso consistently emphasized that her confidence — or lack thereof — was the driving difference between single- and double-digit performances.

To coach Tyler Marsh, connecting with this dominant version of Cardoso isn’t just a tactical challenge — it’s entirely predicated on the center’s mental approach.

“I think that Kamilla can be a dominant force in this league pretty much on a nightly basis when her mind is made up to do so,” Marsh said. “It’s part of what I talk about with giving young players grace, because they got to grow into that. It’s not something that we can just expect from them from the jump.

“Learning how to be that nightly, that’s part of being a pro and it’s part of understanding what her talent is and what her potential is. We just want to put her in positions where she’s able to do that and see that so it can be a regular thing.”

At times last season, Cardoso appeared to disengage entirely from the game in front of her. This isn’t unusual for rookies who are overloaded by the mental burden of learning a new system while also familiarizing themselves with new personnel and attempting to keep up with the elevated pace of play.

Even as a second-year player, it’s hard to stay engaged for a 40-minute game. That was still true at the end of Thursday’s first quarter, when Cardoso turned around from a routine rebound and threw an awkward, thoughtless pass straight into the hands of the Wings’ Paige Bueckers. The mistake was so surprising that Cardoso — in a moment of youthful earnestness — clapped both of her hands over her mouth in shock before scrambling back and ultimately fouling Arike Ogunbowale.

But even with that error, her performance was more dialed in than any from the 2024 season. Cardoso threw herself on the ground in pursuit of loose balls twice, sending smaller guards scrambling out of the way. The center shuffled quickly off the ball in help defense, passed out of double teams and connected relentlessly on screens with veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot.

Beyond recording a crucial win, Marsh believes Thursday’s game played an important role in Cardoso’s development to show her that she’s fully capable of exceeding her own expectations.

“It’s a two-way street,” Marsh said. “There’s a level of responsibility on our end as a staff to put her in positions to be successful, and then she’s got to approach the game day-to-day with that mindset of how dominant she can be.

“We want her to understand how impactful and how important she is to us on the defensive end and the offensive end. Hopefully that continues to breed trust in herself, just like we have in her.”

Confidence is key. But Vandersloot offered an additional solution to firing up Cardoso — get her the ball.

The Sky want plays to start with Cardoso just as often as they end with her. In Marsh’s new system, the center operates in a fulcrum role designed to pass through and around the post position, requiring Cardoso to facilitate from the perimeter and nail.

Cardoso feels her passing is the most underrated aspect of her game — and Vandersloot, one of the greatest passing guards in the history of the sport, agrees.

“She needs to touch the ball a lot,” Vandersloot said. “She’s so unselfish, she’s a great passer and I think she understands the game really well. So we have to play through her more often.”

Thursday’s outing also informed the Sky how they should proceed in striking a balance between Cardoso and forward Angel Reese.

The pair’s lowlights of struggling through contact on the low block are mostly a symptom of desperation — especially last season, when the Sky offense lacked ball movement and rhythm. Both players are more unselfish than many game scenarios allow them to showcase, willingly passing off looks in the post and slinging skip passes across the arc to produce 3-point looks.

The Sky aim to play a more spaced-out style of basketball. That has meant a sacrifice for Reese, who is playing further away from the basket and taking significantly fewer shots. But this style also leans into the forward’s potential as a high-low distributor to play in tandem with Cardoso. Reese assisted on three of Cardoso’s baskets in Thursday’s win, a reflection of how this dynamic can space the floor and fuel the offense.

The Sky’s entire success is intertwined with the growth of Cardoso and Reese. And on Thursday, the Sky caught a glimpse of a future defined by the dominance of their center.

Now, it’s up to Cardoso — and the team around her — to prove this can become an everyday affair.

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