Quick Three: Sky 91 Liberty 85
Chicago delivers a long-awaited victory with a number of standout performances against reigning champions New York.
The Sky delivered one of their standout performances of the season on Thursday night—fairly beating one of the league’s top teams (albeit in a bit of a dip without their perennial MVP contender Breanna Stewart) on their home floor with a start to finish performance that fans have been waiting for. Let’s dive into all that went well and look ahead to the closing stretch of the season.
1. Sky’s Big 3 Lives Up To Its Potential
Despite the roster construction and injury issues that have hampered Chicago’s 2025 season, there’s little doubt that when healthy, the team’s core trio of Ariel Atkins, Angel Reese, and Kamilla Cardoso has tremendous potential. After the sophomore frontcourt struggled through much of their rookie campaigns without a high-powered number-one offensive option (no disrespect to Chennedy Carter, who filled that role at times), Atkins arrived in the winter and has consistently proven she can elevate an offense’s floor. Add in Cardoso’s continued development as a playmaker—which we saw plenty of tonight—and Reese’s evolution into a regular offensive initiator (albeit a bit less over the past two games as she works back from injury), and you have a set of complementary pieces capable of keeping opposing defenses off balance.
Tonight, that potential was on full display. All three were highly efficient—combining for 20-of-27 shooting, each above 66%—while also sharing the ball generously, totaling 13 assists. Reese (10 rebounds) and Cardoso (16) dominated the glass as they so often do, Atkins stood out as the Sky’s best point-of-attack defender (reflected in her team-best plus-minus), and the combination of their skill sets produced some of Chicago’s most effective offensive possessions of the night. Perhaps most importantly, the trio plays with a remarkable egolessness, which has made their integration—despite the team’s injury-driven shuffling—almost seamless. While Chicago’s offense overall has been anything but smooth this season, these three flow into multi-player actions naturally, benefiting from the fact that none is fixated on being the one to score.
Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the Sky clearly need significant roster evolution to maximize their potential and climb the WNBA standings—health alone won’t be enough. But building around this trio as a foundation could pay huge dividends with the right complementary pieces (i.e. at least one more star). Tonight’s performance offered a glimpse of that potential, showing that, in line with the WNBA’s “anyone-can-beat-anyone” standard, Chicago has assembled three key pieces capable of competing with one of the league’s best teams when firing on all cylinders. With Atkins likely to be a priority to retain for next season, the remaining games provide an ideal opportunity for her to continue building chemistry with Reese and Cardoso as the trio looks toward what lies ahead.
2. Marsh Activates Onyenwere + Coaches Near Perfect
And speaking of individuals living up to their potential, Tyler Marsh delivered perhaps his best game of the season in what has otherwise been an under-the-radar rookie campaign for the Sky’s head coach. Social media narratives have questioned whether Marsh is cut out for the job, pointing to the team’s record as evidence. But in reality, he’s generally done the best he could with a very difficult hand—especially given the slew of injuries, including the early loss of Courtney Vandersloot, that have had him fighting uphill all season.
Yet in moments, we’ve seen the makings of a great head coach—tonight’s game plan being perhaps the clearest example. It’s no secret that Sabrina Ionescu has long been a defensive target for opponents, and despite significant improvement, she still often represents the weakest link on a New York team loaded with standout defenders. For the Sky, that presented a favorable matchup: New York could typically easily “hide” Ionescu, knowing Natasha Cloud would handle the Atkins assignment, while neither Reese nor Cardoso were going to be guarded by a perimeter defender. In many situations, emphasizing ball control with the best players—especially when Chicago’s big three were performing as well as they did tonight—might have led a coach to shy away from attacking Ionescu regularly.
Marsh, however, allowed Michaela Onyenwere’s work against New York to perfectly complement the play of his stars. She was given a long leash to attack the Liberty superstar off the dribble, showcasing her ability to get into the paint and score with ease—while New York struggled to provide timely help. Ionescu, to be fair, occasionally got the better of Onyenwere’s defense, but it only neutralized some of the damage rather than reversing it. On a night when everyone else on the Sky—outside of the four mentioned players—struggled to produce much (5-of-26 FG, 16 points), Onyenwere’s 13 points were, without exaggeration, one of the critical differences in the game. The consistency of her opportunities to exploit weak spots in New York’s otherwise strong defense speaks to both the coaching staff’s attention to detail and the forward’s continued growth during her (latest) second-half breakout.
3. Chicago Face Brutal Closing Stretch
After a really difficult run of games results wise, the Sky—even buoyed by their impressive victory tonight—now enter perhaps the most difficult stretch of their season.
The two games against Connecticut are helpful but even Rachid Meziane’s group has been improving in recent weeks while Las Vegas—with whom the Sky have three match-ups left—is one of the league’s hottest clubs. Thus, the key questions to watch in the remaining stretch of the season are:
The continued adaptation process for Atkins, Reese + Cardoso.
Atkins is out of contract and not guaranteed to return, but it’s fair to say that no one else on this roster besides these three is a sure thing to return either. Thus, continuing to allow these three to develop comfort with one another is a key building block for any hopes the Sky have of hitting the ground running in the 2026 season.
Defensive habits.
Regardless of what the metrics or the scoreboard say, this is about the eye test. Chicago—including the three core pieces (more so the two bigs)—has showcased some really poor defensive habits at times this season. Even if they’re out of the playoff mix, these are high-profile games left because of the caliber of opposition, and the effort needs to match that. If some of the bad habits survive to 2026, this closing stretch will have mostly been a waste.
Who else wants a contract?
As much as there’s a case to look for 7, 8 or even 9 new players, the odds are around half of this year’s roster will return next season—meaning 3-4 players in addition to Reese + Cardoso (and possibly Atkins) will be back. As of right now, it’s hard to make a strong case for anyone besides Onyenwere and Elizabeth Williams (both of whom should have attractive offers elsewhere too) to be the ones that return; who else can step up and lay claim to a spot.
What about the rookies?
This is sort of an addendum to the point above, but one worth exploring. Maddy Westbeld has had positive moments, but you’d be hard pressed to say she’s a lock to return next season barring some huge offseason transformations. Meanwhile, Hailey Van Lith is more likely to return because of the draft capital invested in her this spring but has also been (understandably) hit and miss as a rookie. How Marsh and GM Jeff Pagliocca decide to balance the present and future when it comes to using these two players in the closing weeks could go a long way towards deciding their futures (for better or worse).