Date, Time, Location: Friday, August 1st, 4:30pm PDT, Wintrust Arena (Chicago)
Broadcast Information: ION (check local affiliate), WNBA League Pass (out-of-market streaming), Audacy (radio)
The Golden State Valkyries have one of the trickiest parts of their road trip when they play in Chicago on Friday after their game on Thursday. They defeated the Sky in San Francisco, but both teams will have a different look for this meeting as Chicago tries to find their way back into the playoff picture. This will be one of four games carried on ION during its timeslot and not the primary game so you will have to check your local affiliate if you are planning on watching on television. Some providers do carry all of the games on separate channels for this Friday setup.
The Valkyries
Injuries continue to be an issue with Monique Billings and Cecilia Zandalasini missing the last game after playing on Tuesday. Zandalasini is one of a number of players on the roster who were with their national teams during the first game against Chicago with Temi Fagbenle, Janelle Salaun, and Iliana Rupert also missing that game. Carla Leite was injured for that game, which could mean that only five players who saw court time for the Valkyries then would play in this game. That game also happened to be Kayla Thornton’s highest scoring game of the season as her presence continues to be missed.
The Opposition
The Chicago Sky also happen to be coming off of a visit of the Washington Mystics, having lost on Tuesday to run their losing streak to six since an impressive win over Minnesota. They are 3-8 overall since their loss to the Valkyries, leaving them in 12th place right now, six games behind Golden State. They had planned to push for the playoffs this season, but are running out of chances to join the fray.
Chicago only recently worked on filling out their roster, giving Marquesha Davis a chance on a 7-day contract after she was waived by New York as they battled injuries, but that just expired. Moriah Jefferson continued to battle injuries this year so they opted to waive her and bring in Sevgi Uzun to give them a point guard option after Phoenix waived her earlier when she headed to national team duty with Turkey. She has yet to make her debut, though it could be in this game.
Injuries are also a major issue for the Sky right now with stars Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins ruled out for the game along with Courtney Vandersloot being out for the year. Reese had just returned from injury and there will be two more game-time decisions for the team as Michaela Onyenwere and Hailey Van Lith remain on the injury report. If neither can play, that would leave Chicago with four players who saw time in the game in San Francisco. They will have young center Kamilla Cardoso for this game though after she was on national team with Brazil last time.
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