WASHINGTON — Even after becoming the first member of the rookie class to tally 100 points and 100 rebounds, Angel Reese didn’t want to acknowledge the achievement. She wants to focus on how she can improve and how to help her team win.

“I haven’t acknowledged nothing now,” the rookie said. “I’m still just learning, growing, trying to be as great as possible.”

Reese returned to Washington for the second time in eight days. After her Chicago Sky’s 83-81 loss Friday night, Reese is 12 games into her rookie season. While her team fell to the Mystics, Reese collected her fifth straight and sixth overall double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Although she may not celebrate her personal accomplishments, the Randallstown native has proven her game translates to the next level and become a serious contender for Rookie of the Year.

Sky coach and former New York Liberty great Teresa Weatherspoon praised Reese for her work ethic and her hunger to secure rebounds. Reese’s rebounding ability is the component of her game that’s translated the best to the WNBA, she said.

Reese is sixth in total rebounds per game and first in offensive rebounds per game in the league. She also averages the second-most points of any rookie, behind only Caitlin Clark.

Even with the strong start to her WNBA career, there have been adjustments for Reese.

Chicago is 4-8 about a quarter of the way through the season. Although the record holds a small amount of promise for a team with a new coach and a young core of players, learning not to dwell on the losses has been a challenge for Reese.

With 40 games in a WNBA season, if the Sky win 20 and lose 20, Reese will lose the same number of games she did in her entire college career.

“It’s really honestly hard for me to even lose,” she said. “I’m not used to losing like this. So it’s hard for me. I’ve been talking to [teammate] Kamilla [Cardoso] like, ‘It ain’t ever been like this before.’”

She said she’s had to learn from her coach, who says losing is how players learn their biggest lessons. The first-year coach said Reese is beginning to understand how to get better with every game, win or lose.

Reese is dedicated to learning and improving every aspect of her game. She wants to be more consistent and increase her versatility. In college, she often played center. In the WNBA, Reese has moved to power forward.

She also wants to improve her confidence in her jump shot, which she can knock down in practice but sometimes struggles with in games. Her goal is to do whatever is necessary for her teammates.

“One thing about her, you ask her to do it, she’ll do it,” Weatherspoon said. “She’s all about the team. She’s all about what she needs to do to help the team.”

Reese soaks up any advice she gets from the veterans of the league and not just from the players on her team; she got some from the Atlanta Dream’s Tina Charles on taking her time in the paint.

In a professional league, there’s more opportunity to learn from veterans than in high school or college, Reese said.

But the Sky’s veterans have also been impressed with Reese as she’s quickly made her mark on the team.

“She super vocal,” six-year veteran Isabelle Harrison said. “She’s very vocal. She talks a lot about defense, which I love.”