CHICAGO (AP) — Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese took South Carolina and LSU to the highest heights and helped spark a surge in women’s basketball.

No wonder the Chicago Sky were beaming. They landed two of the biggest stars not named Caitlin Clark in a loaded WNBA draft on Monday.

“This is a chess match,” coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “And we actually got every player that we had designed to get. This is (an) exciting moment for us, exciting moment for the city, and this is (an) exciting moment for the Chicago Sky organization.”

The Sky took Cardoso with the No. 3 pick after she led South Carolina to a perfect season and the NCAA championship. Reese, the LSU star, got selected seventh overall.

Chicago, which won the WNBA championship in 2021, is banking on the two to help lead the franchise back to the top.

The Sky went 18-22 last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Former coach and general manager James Wade left in the middle of the season to take an assistant coaching job with the Toronto Raptors and was replaced on an interim basis by Emre Vatanseyer.