Courtney

Vandersloot

Banham recorded a season and career high in assists in her final game of the 2025 season. Banham, a natural shooting guard, saw extended minutes for the Sky at the one especially following Courtney Vandersloot’s season-ending ACL injury. She accounted for 10 of the Sky’s 25 assists on Thursday night and had her most assists in the second quarter when she registered five. Banham found five different teammates including her most consistent target Kamilla Cardoso, who scored 10 of her points off Banham assists, in addition to shots for Rebecca Allen, Kia Nurse, Michaela Onyenwere and Maddy Westbeld.

Thomas made history once again on Tuesday night, and broke her own record for the most triple-doubles in a single WNBA season. This was her seventh this season and her fifth triple-double in the month of August. Thomas became the first player in league history to record a stat line with at least 10 points, 15 boards and 15 assists in a single game. Thomas’ past two games have been monstrous. She’s racked up 31 assists in her past two games against first the Valkyries and then now the Sparks. The last player to do anything like this was when Courtney Vandersloot racked up 30 assists over two days while playing in the 2020 wubble in Florida during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas didn’t begin the game scoring as she only had one total point by the third quarter. But once she found that the Mercury had a commanding lead in the fourth quarter, Thomas decided to add in some more scoring with the intention of accomplishing her seventh triple-double this season.

Ever since Courtney Vandersloot went down and tore her ACL, Reese has taken it upon herself to play more like a point-forward, and the results for Reese have paid off. She facilitated to six different teammates in Kamilla Cardoso, Elizabeth Williams, Ariel Atkins, Michaela Onyenwere, Rebecca Allen and Rachel Banham. Unleashing Reese’s passing has made her offense much more efficient. She’s not forcing as many tough shots near the basket, but instead is getting better looks on cutting actions and is being screened for. She went 4-for-4 in the third quarter on a couple of putbacks for teammates in addition to a couple of field goals where she had the advantage and could use her athleticism to score.

Atkins was playing de facto point guard on Friday night as the Sky continue to figure out how they proceed as a basketball team without veteran leader Courtney Vandersloot. Atkins mostly found the Sky’s post trio in Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams on cuts to the basket. To get Atkins off the ball, however, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh had Reese and wing Rebecca Allen bring the ball up the floor. Atkins’ shot selection was confusing on Friday night. How does a 36% career three point shooter only take 3 shots from deep? Going forward Marsh is going to have to experiment and find more ways to get Atkins off the ball. That could come in the form of signing a new point guard to a hardship contract once Cardoso leaves for the FIBA Americup towards the end of June.

Vandersloot was injured during Saturday’s loss to the Fever, and an MRI on Sunday revealed a torn ACL in her right knee. The veteran point guard’s absence is a significant blow for the Sky to absorb, with the team currently languishing with a 2-5 record. While Elizabeth Williams is not a point guard, her ability to make plays out of pick-and-roll actions could make the veteran center a player of increased importance for the Sky. Rookie Hailey Van Lith should also pick up additional minutes, especially while Chicago awaits Moriah Jefferson’s return from injury. If fantasy managers were to reach for anyone to stream in the short term, it should be Van Lith. But Williams will have added value once Kamilla Cardoso leaves the team to represent Brazil in the upcoming AmeriCup tournament.

Once Courtney Vandersloot left the game with a knee injury, Williams was relied upon for additional minutes. While Williams is a center, her decision-making without the ball in her hands helped a Sky offense that looked lost without their point guard. Williams ran pick-and-roll actions with Rebecca Allen who also proved to make sound decisions in a game when the Sky struggled to score points. Williams is another player that head coach Tyler Marsh should be prepared to play more minutes especially when rookie guard Hailey Van Lith is expected to earn more playing time as result of Vandersloot’s injury. Does Marsh relegate either Angel Reese or Kamilla Cardoso to the bench in favor of Williams simply to have a veteran and steady presence on the floor? It might not be such a terrible idea.

With the Sky’s struggles continuing, head coach Tyler Marsh needs to consider inserting Allen in the starting lineup. She’s a talented decision maker and with Courtney Vandersloot’s probably out for the foreseeable future, Chicago is going to need players who make rational decisions out on the floor to establish some sort of offensive flow. Most of Allen’s main offensive production came in the minutes following Vandersloot’s departure following a right knee injury. Going forward the Sky need to run more actions that allow Allen to make decisions with the ball in her hands in addition to having her space the floor on the perimeter and cut off the ball.

Cardoso’s first basket of the game on Saturday night came on a post-entry pass from Kia Nurse. Courtney Vandersloot was standing on the weak side wing and pointed to where Nurse needed to move the ball. Vandersloot saw how great of a seal Cardoso got on the block with Aliyah Boston guarding Cardoso from behind. Cardoso scored on Nurse’s pass, but moments later Vandersloot was on the ground holding her right knee, and was later taken to the locker room. As a result, Cardoso’s looks weren’t as advantageous or frequent. The Sky struggled to take advantage of Cardoso’s height advantage against the Fever’s posts, including her former South Carolina teammate in Boston.

Vandersloot suffered a non-contact injury to her right knee with 5:29 left in the first quarter on a drive to the basket. The 36-year-old guard, who grabbed her knee immediately after collapsing to the floor, was helped off the court by Chicago’s training staff and was unable to put any weight on her right leg. With Vandersloot out for the rest of the game, Chicago will have to rely upon extended minutes from combo guard Hailey Van Lith and shooting guard Rachel Banham, with Ariel Atkins also a possibility to handle the ball in spurts.

While Jefferson was reportedly available to make her season debut on May 29 against the Wings, the veteran guard did not play. She also missed the rematch two nights later, and her leg injury remains an issue. Hailey Van Lith will stay in the backup point guard role, with starter Courtney Vandersloot playing most of the available minutes at the position.