Date, Time, and Location: Wednesday, May 13th, 7:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (San Francisco Bay Area), KMAX (Sacramento Area), WCIU (opposition’s broadcast area), WNBA League Pass (streaming outside teams’ broadcast areas)
The Golden State Valkyries have another home game on Wednesday when they welcome the Chicago Sky to San Francisco. The Valkyries defeated the Sky in all three of their meetings last year, but the visitors have tried to rebuild their roster for this season. They have only played one game thus far so it is too early to tell if their plan worked. With two wins under their belt, Golden State will be looking to continue the streak, especially with an unusual full week without a game before a tough road trip.
The Valkyries
Golden State will be without Tiffany Hayes and Cecilia Zandalasini again while Juste Jocyte will arrive soon now that her European club season has ended. The signing of Ashten Prechtel should give the Valkyries the option of dressing eleven players. Gabby Williams will get to face the team where she started her WNBA career before she was traded after a conflict arising from her national team play.
The Opposition
After finishing in a tie for the worst record in the league, Chicago made a number of moves in the offseason, starting with making trades to avoid having any of their players selected in the expansion draft. Their next trade had Angel Reese heading to Atlanta in exchange for future draft picks. They then sent out one of their first round draft picks to Washington to bring in Jacy Sheldon. Their final trade happened after they had used the core designation on Ariel Atkins, ultimately signing her to a contract and then trading with Los Angeles to get Rickea Jackson.
The Sky also brought in veterans early in free agency, including bringing Azura Stevens back to the team where she established herself in the league to bolster the post. Skylar Diggins signed with the team that is closest to her hometown as they needed another point guard. They also signed former Stanford player DiJonai Carrington to upgrade their perimeter defense and then made a late splash in the backcourt by signing Natasha Cloud at the end of training camp.
The team did have some returnees, including center Kamilla Cardoso being on her rookie contract. They have already exercised the options on contracts for her, Sheldon, and Jackson to extend those deals through next year. Elizabeth Williams returned to be a backup in the post and Courtney Vandersloot returned at point guard after missing most of last season due to injury. Guard Rachel Banham also returned to offer shooting off of the bench.
The only player to stick from this year’s draft class was their first pick Gabriela Jaquez. Aicha Coulibaly missed all of last season due to injury after being drafted and is now occupying a developmental spot alongside Maddy Westbeld, who spent her rookie year with the team before being waived in training camp. The last player on their main roster is Sydney Taylor, who starred in Poland this past season as teammates with Valkyries’ training camp player Cate Reese.
Chicago last played on Saturday in Portland, an unusual amount of rest early in the season, especially with a West Coast road trip involved. They ended up prevailing by a pretty decisive margin, but they did not pull away from the expansion team until halfway through the fourth quarter. Vandersloot, Carrington, Stevens, and Westbeld were all unavailable for that game due to injury and have all been ruled out for this game as well. Cloud, who missed the game with an illness, is still listed on the injury report, but is expected to play, which would give them up to ten players and some much-needed depth.
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