Chicago Sky Offseason Update #14: Williams’ Winter Wonderland
Courtney has a red-hot holiday stretch while the Sky’s Turkish and Italian contingents continue their own scoring streaks.
Courtney Williams (Shaanxi — China)
Courtney delivered a vintage performance — her finest of the Chinese season so far — in Saturday’s long overdue win over Tianjin. If you asked either team’s coach how the game was won, they’d probably throw their hands up and point in Williams’ direction. After checking into an 8–6 game midway through the first quarter, Courtney dished out an assist and hit seven field foals before her first miss. From there, it was an uphill battle all the way for Tianjin (who actually clawed back in the game late) as Courtney dropped 35-points on 15/25 FG and 3/5 threes to help her side end their nine game losing streak. As if 35 wasn't enough, Williams stuffed the other categories on the stat sheet with 14 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk and 1 stl. Corralling so many boards allowed Courtney to set the tempo in transition and regularly find her spots for a mid-range pull-up.
Tuesday’s win over Henan followed a similar template as Williams grabbed 15 boards, and the resulting tempo propelled Shaanxi to score 24+ points in all four quarters of their 104–76 win. Her assist total, this time around, was much higher (13 total, 8 in the 3Q alone) as her team’s shot making from the perimeter seemed to rise up to the level of the passes she was sending their way. The result of all that was an exceptional and fluid offensive performance that saw Courtney (21) and three others score 15 or more. With just two more games to go before the Chinese league takes a six-week break for Olympic qualifying, Courtney and her new teammates finally seem to be finding their rhythm.
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
There was no obvious moment where the rubber band snapped and Fenerbahçe blew Mersin out of the water, but the reigning EuroLeague champions still managed to win comofortably 76–54 on Saturday. In a game of runs, the big difference between the teams was Fener’s ability to extend their strong moments for an extra couple of baskets — with each exchange of blows leaving Mersin further behind. Even in defeat, Williams delivered one of her most impressive performances of the season with 13 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks. She seemed to have Emma Meesseman on the back foot early — with 8 points in the game’s opening 4 minutes — but Mersin failed to capitalize on this perceived advantage after the first. Mabrey, like Elizabeth (6/10), was efficient with 25 on 7/14 FG, 3/5 3PT and 8/8 FT. Another notable difference in the game: the absence of secondary scorer Alina Iagupova who left the team.
Williams was also absent from Mersin’s home match against Izmit on Tuesday as, for the second time this season, a new interim coach took the Mersin bench. In amongst all of the absences, Marina did her best to carry the Mersin offense with 27 points (9/24 FG, 4/12 3PT) but was inevitably forced into looks she’d otherwise have passed up given the lack of alternatives offensively. Whereas Izmit’s aggression helped them create easy looks and get to the free throw line, Mersin settled for too many outside shots and fell as far as 18 behind in the third. A shift in approach helped them create more looks at the rim and claw back into the game at 73-all with just over a minute remaining, but Izmit’s extra aggression once again proved the difference as they got to the line twice in their final two possessions while Mersin missed a pair of tough looks outside the paint — including a missed fadeaway three by Mabrey at the buzzer that would’ve forced OT.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
After Chantel Horvat left to join Sika at Avenida, Smith got a new (but old) teammate in the form of Feyonda Fitzgerald — who was on the Sky’s camp roster in 2023. Fitzgerald’s skill attacking the basket (7 FTA) and natural scoring ability (21 points) definitely give Emlak a new dynamic, and the result was a much more fluid Emlak offense for long stretches. However, the Emlak offense failed to establish Lan as an aggressive force headed towards the rim in this game, and they’re still a limited offensive team when that happens (at least until Fitzgerald is better settled). They got to the line often when they did drive (and did well there — 18/20), but they still took more than half of their attempts from the field from behind the arc. As long as they’re shooting around 30% from that territory, there’s no reason to keep settling for those shots. Galatasaray, who won 93–85, created and scored easier looks by driving to the basket more and maintaining a considerable edge (43–34) on the glass when they did miss.
On Wednesday, Emlak finally snapped their seven-game skid behind a huge performance from Smith away at Dana and Beşiktaş. The Aussie impacted every aspect of the game with 18 pt, 12 reb, 6 stl, 5 ast and 1 blk. The only thing missing from her game was outside shooting (0–3 3PT), but the difficulties she caused Beşiktaş in the paint opened the floor up for Emlak’s other shooters (45% 3PT). She finished through traffic on several occasions and successfully passed out of the double teams that came her way— making it difficult for Beşiktaş’ bigs to decipher how exactly they should defend her. Sydney Wiese’s return to three-point form (7–11) was also key and included several clutch makes as Emlak overcame a 7-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Dana delivered one of her most balanced performances of the season in Sunday’s win over Tarsus on her way to leading the game in scoring (24) and assists (11). Beşiktaş’ interior defense has had stronger nights, but their ability to hurt their opponents in the exact same way (60% 2PT) proved the difference in the game. Li Yueru delivered her usual dosage of elite play in the post (18 pt, 8/12 FG), but the rest of the Beşiktaş team were also able to do a lot of damage at the rim as a result of some fantastic ball movement. Despite having an off night shooting from deep (27% 3PT), coach Aziz Akkaya should still be very pleased with the way his offensive sets were able to repeatedly cut through the Tarsus defense and create high-percentage looks. Evans’ passing, of course, also played a big role in that success as her 11 dimes were just one short of her season high and helped her collect her third double-double of the season.
Wednesday’s match was less kind to Evans and company as they let a late lead slip at the hands of Weise’s electric shooting. Evans struggled to get going from the field early before a hot stretch shooting the three-ball in the middle phases of the game (6/12 3PT) helped her keep her side on top. Unfortunately, the Beşiktaş offense ground to a halt with just fourteen fourth-quarter points — as Yueru (21 pt, 11/12 FT) served as the only reliable source of offense. Despite their struggles, Beşiktaş were still able to level the score at 84 with seconds remaining after an incisive drive by Evans broke an Emlak double and led to an easy lay-in for Li. Yueru, however, was clearly unaware of the score and committed an intentional foul on Berfin Sertoglu in the dying seconds which led to the winning free throws. Evans finished with 21 pt, 7 ast, 4 reb and 1 stl in the defeat.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
Avenida dropped their fifth straight in all competitions on Friday — this time against a Celta team that entered the game with the second fewest wins in the Spanish top flight. Sika put in another fantastic performance with 18 points on 7/11 shooting alongside 5 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist, but the story of the game was, once again, a somewhat self-inflicted early deficit. After scoring just eight points in the game’s opening seven-and-a-half minutes, Avenida trailed by as much as 41–21 in the second quarter before pulling within one point in the final seconds of the game. As has so often been the case (4 of the last 5 losses were by seven or fewer), Sika and her teammates showed plenty of heart, but a myriad of small details like untimely turnovers and clutch makes by their opponent didn’t go their way. Despite their considerable resolve, Avenida are reeling somewhat— with an injury to star guard Silvia Domínguez adding to their troubles — and will be grateful for the eight day break sandwiching the holiday.
Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Debut: TBD) (Spar Girona — Spain)
Bertsch & Girona’s league victory on Saturday against Gernika was weirdly reminiscent of their midweek EuroCup win as they looked and shot (36% FG, 33% 3PT) well below their best. Their defensive intensity and effort in the fourth quarter, however, stood out as they overturned a deficit after three quarters and held their opponents to just 2/11 shooting in the final period. Bertsch, to the surprise of no one in Chicago, was an important part of the turnaround — defending strongly and chasing down a number of loose balls en route to a game best +11 plus-minus. Offensively, it was a rare inefficient night as Mo made just 3 of her 9 field goals though she did hit a three and convert all four of her free throw attempts. In a game where neither team shot the ball well from the field, Girona’s volume (22–14 edge) and efficiency (95%) at the line proved one of the game’s key deciders.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
For the second straight weekend, Parks coasted across the finish line in weekend play with an efficient (but brief) performance. Sometimes box scores don’t tell the full story, but this one effectively does the job. Parks scored 16 points on 6/9 shooting with 3 threes, 6 rebounds and 4 assists — an abbreviated (18 minutes) stat line that might’ve had her on triple-double watch in a closer game. Close this game was not, though. Schio led by 20 at halftime, and Parks finished with a +32 plus-minus in her limited time on the court. With starting bigs Jasmine Keys and Dorka Juhasz still out and star guard Arella Guirantes once again coming off the bench after her own recent injury, this type of win was virtually perfect in terms of on court performance. However, Julia Reisingerova — a Czech forward— also left in the first half due to injury meaning Schio’s front court depth is now nearly non-existent.
Keys (but not Reisingerova) returned with a big impact (15 pt, +15 +/-) on Wednesday against Bologna, but a rare ineffective outing from Guirantes (9 pt, -15) put Schio on the back foot. Parks, despite falling squarely in the middle in plus-minus (±0), was a huge factor in Schio’s ability to fight back after trailing by as many as 17 in the first quarter. After missing both of her attempts in the first, Parks recovered to lead the game in scoring with 19 points on 6/11 shooting in the final three quarters. She also continued her recent streak of impact on the glass — grabbing a team-high 4 boards while also dishing out 3 assists. Unfortunately, a tightly contested game in the fourth saw Schio commit three turnovers in their final six possessions after taking the lead 76–74 with less than three minutes to go. Down three, the final shot fell to Parks — who left a (probably deflected) three short. With a two week break ahead, Schio are still comfortably inside the playoff line in the EuroLeague and 2nd in Italy.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
Soule returned to the line-up after missing last week’s loss due to illness, and her offensive impact was key to San Martino snapping their 2-game skid and staying firmly in the mix for home court in the Italian playoffs. Soule scored 13 points on 7/13 shooting from the field, and her typical dose of aggressiveness with the ball in hand allowed her to score at the basket and provide for others (3 assists). Elsewhere, the impact of her return was evident in the additional defensive pressure San Martino applied. Soule’s length and athleticism provide a different dimension, and her willingness to commit to the reads she made defensively allowed her to create a lot of disruption. With that type of defensive showing, San Martino can win when they don’t shoot well, but scoring wasn’t a concern. Giuseppe Piazza’s starting five was red hot and combined for 85 points on 56% shooting from the floor — highlighted by point guard Raelin D’Alie’s 15 assists.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action. You can find the best site to stream the different leagues live and the full schedule of games over the coming week in this article I wrote earlier in the season.