Maddy

Westbeld

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.

Westbeld had a career night to cap off her rookie season. She scored not only the most points she has in the WNBA but she made the most three-pointers as a pro with five and registered the most assists she has had in a game all season with three. Westbeld was taking her open shots confidently, hitting over the outstretched and often late closeouts of multiple Liberty defenders. She found Kia Nurse for a transition three-pointer and Michaela Onyenwere and Kamilla Cardoso on high-low dump down passes. Westbeld tied her season high in rebounds with seven, a number she last reached on July 16 against the Dream.

Williams recorded her fourth double-double of the season on Friday night. She scored the ball efficiently coming off high-low passes from teammate Kamilla Cardoso in addition to two assists coming from Rebecca Allen finding Williams cutting off the ball. Williams rebounded the ball well especially when Cardoso wasn’t in great position to do so and had Fever players trying to box her out. Williams also facilitated at a high level on Friday night. She found Michaela Onyenwere for two different layups where the Fever were mismatched guarding the Sky wing. Williams also had two more assists in the fourth quarter to Ariel Atkins and rookie Maddy Westbeld for two jump shots that Williams helped created on handoffs and screens.

Saturday’s game will be Reese’s fourth missed game with a back injury, but the Sky continue to consider her day-to-day. Elizabeth Williams has filled the void in the starting lineup on most nights and is worth rostering in fantasy leagues until Reese returns. Maddy Westbeld has entered the rotation recently, but Williams is the player who should be targeted by those who need a frontcourt player to fill out their lineups.

Banham created offense off screening actions from post players in Elizabeth Williams and Kamilla Cardoso, scoring jumpers off both of their screens. Later in the second half Banham hit shots coming off the catch via Rebecca Allen and Kia Nurse. But in addition to her scoring, Banham reached a season-high in assists with seven. She found Cardoso, Williams, Nurse and Maddy Westbeld either running the floor, on pick-and-roll or on horizontal passes to find teammates before they put the ball on the floor and drove.

Since Angel Reese is out of Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Dream with also a leg injury, veteran center Elizabeth Williams will take her place in the starting lineup. Expect rookie Maddy Westbeld to get a little bit more run for the Sky, but Chicago might also go smaller playing Rebecca Allen more minutes at the power forward position to try to take advantage of potential mismatches. If Atlanta’s size is too much for the Sky to handle playing smaller, Williams and Kamilla Cardoso could be in for a heavy work load on Wednesday.

Injuries limited Westbeld to 21 appearances during her final season at Notre Dame, and her production suffered. She averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Those numbers aren’t awe-inspiring, but Westbeld’s work in her first four college seasons is why she has a chance of being a contributor at the next level. As a senior in 2023-24, she earned second team All-ACC honors with 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. Westbeld is a face-up four who can provide balance to the Sky frontcourt, as neither Angel Reese nor Kamilla Cardoso brings that skill set to the table.