Chicago Sky Offseason Update #26: The First is Always the Sweetest
Dana & Beşiktaş make history, Isabelle Harrison drops a new career high and the KBSL playoff picture starts to take shape.
With the Australian WNBL already complete and the Turkish KBSL soon to follow, the end of the overseas schedule (and indeed the start of the WNBA season) is right around the corner. After months of non-stop games in various domestic leagues plus the midweek continental cup competitions, it’s inevitable that fatigue starts to set in for players. For some like Marina Mabrey, a deep run in each of the last two EuroLeague seasons means it’s been at least two years since anything vaguely resembling an offseason was had. And yet, Mabrey and many others are still pushing through the exhaustion to play some of their best basketball of the season when the stakes are the highest. Let’s jump into the standout stories from the last week of offseason play—both at home and abroad.
This Week’s Biggest Stories
1. Evans & Beşiktaş Reach Historic Final + Clinch Home Court
Evans and Beşiktaş reached the EuroCup final for the first time in the club’s history with a 68-66 win away to Girona on Thursday—though the second leg was largely a formality after Beşiktaş’ 21-point win in the first leg. Evans struggled to heat up (14 p, 3/17 FG) but was impactful defensively before being ejected for her second technical midway through the fourth quarter. Back in the domestic league on Sunday, Beşiktaş survived a rough opening quarter against eleventh-placed Bursa to pick up a key 87-79 win which secures home court advantage for the opening round of the playoffs and gives them a very real chance to secure the #2 seed in the KBSL playoffs (full preview to come later this week!) with a win Wednesday. While the opening period and stretches of the three that followed were far from Beşiktaş’ best, there was also plenty for coach Aziz Akkaya to be pleased with. Evans finished with 31 points—doing most of her damage going downhill (10/16 2PT) and picking apart the defense well (8 a) to create good looks for others. Another key to turning the game in Beşiktaş’ favor was Li Yueru—who was dominant down low with 28 points & 19 boards.
2. Harrison Flashes Dominance in First Full Week of Athletes Unlimited
Isabelle Harrison got her second week with Team Cloud off to a cracking start with a 41-point outing in Thursday’s come from behind overtime win over Team Mitchell (which you can read all about here), but the weekend didn’t end there. When her team returned to the floor on Saturday, Harrison’s minutes were, understandably, dialed back after she cleared the 30-minute mark for the first time in 355 days on Thursday. Yet, despite playing just 10 minutes, she still added 6 points and 2 boards on 3/5 FG. In Sunday’s final game of Week 3, her minutes were again held in check (15), but her productivity stood out regardless. She finished with 16 points and 3 assists on 3/7 FG—with her ability to get to and score from the line (10/10 FT) standing out from her performance. Team Cloud got the win 91-87 and Harrison’s performances have her all the way up to twenty-third of forty players on the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard—despite missing a whole week of action and playing limited minutes in 5 of her 6 appearances.
3. Sutton’s Heroics Give Onyenwere + Ormanspor Key Win
In a game with huge playoff implications, the Mercury’s Sug Sutton delivered with a pair of key scores in the clutch—including the game-winner on a step-back mid-range jumper as time expired. Opponents Galatasaray (17-10) started the game on a tear, but a yo-yo contest ensued with Ormanspor (19-8) eventually stretching their lead to as many as 8 in the final period. Galatasaray, however, persevered and effectively framed Sutton (23 p) and Onyenwere (17 p, 7/11 FG) out of the game for much of the final 5 minutes. Thanks to that defense and some great post scoring from NaLyssa Smith and, especially, Teaira McCowan (24 p), Galatasaray (who can also thank the officials for a handful of favorable decisions) clawed their way back into the lead at 75-73 and 77-76 before Sutton’s heroics twice flipped the script back in Ormanspor’s favor. The win clinches home court in the opening round of the playoffs for Onyenwere and company—who need a win over Fener to claim the #2 seed after Wednesday’s games.
Quick Hits
Robyn Parks hardly saw the floor as Schio blew past Faenza 90-37 Sunday, but she was impactful in the minutes she did play. Parks finished with 11 points (3/6 FG), 4 steals, 3 assists (including this smooth scoop pass), 2 rebounds and a +27 plus-minus in just 18 minutes of action.
Lindsay Allen (12 p, 6 a) and Taya Reimer (8 p, 10 r, 9 a) took an offensive back seat to Lyndra Weaver (24 p) on Saturday, but they will be none too concerned as the 85-68 win over Antalya puts them on the brink of clinching a playoff berth. A win or loss by 18 or fewer against Kayseri on Wednesday will earn Botaş a first round match-up with Fenerbahçe.
Marina Mabrey posted an efficient double-double (21 p, 10 a, 8/13 FG, 5/9 3PT) on Saturday with Elizabeth Williams not far behind (13 p, 8 r). Meanwhile, Kahleah Copper led all scorers, adding 24, as Mersin coasted to a 93-80 win over Emlak Konut. Mersin are out of the race for home court, but they can seal the #5 seed with a win over Galatasaray on Wednesday.
Sika Koné’s decreased playing time seems unlikely to change at this point, but she remains productive in the minutes she gets (13 p, 6 r in 20 mins). Avenida won again—this time over Barcelona 67-52—and remain atop LF Endesa. Their focus will now turn to their Copa de la Reina quarterfinal match on Friday.
Chennedy Carter was absent from Bursa’s loss to Beşiktaş on Sunday—with no update from the team on her status for Wednesday’s season finale.
As always, you can find the best site to stream all of the different leagues the Sky players are involved in live + the full schedule of games over the coming week in this article which is updated on a regular basis.