The Shootaround: Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics

my eyeball. That's got to be double the good luck. No. On today's show, we'll be continuing with the shoot around our team by team WNBA season preview, getting you slices ready for tip off with all the stars, steaks, stats and stories, a little history, a little lore, a little gossip, and a little more. Today we're info dumping on my Chicago Sky and producer Mish's Washington Mystics. So break out your note, Pats. It's all coming up right after this

Welcome back, Happy Monday. Before we get to the Sky and the Mystics, here's what you need to know today. Let's start with the end and the game. I told y'all I was out in La to attend last week Angel City FC versus the Utah Royals, and let's talk about the good stuff. First, legendary forward Kristin Press scored less than thirty seconds after subbing into the second half, her first goal at home at Bemo Stadium since tearing her ACL in June twenty twenty two, and it was

in absolute bete. She juked a defender in the box and then put the perfect lefty touch on it to curl it up and in over Royals keeper Mandy McGlynn. Angel City went on to win the game two nothing thanks to a goal by Alyssa Thompson in the ninety seventh minute, her fourth on the season that ties are

for third most in the league. The game, like most ACFC games, was an incredible game day experience full of celebs, including New Los Angeles resident Kelsey Plumb and her La Sparks teammate Deerica hamby John Lovett from the Crooked Media Pods, one of my favors, in particular Pod Save America, Friend of the Show, comedian Aaron Foley, team owner Lily Singh, and Will Ferrell, who I got to chat with and thank for the very meaningful and very powerful doc Will

and Harper. I also thanked him for as less meaningful and less powerful but always entertaining Harry Carey impression. I'm a Cubs fan, I couldn't resist. While ACFC got the win, the final score was the last thing on most people's minds by the end of the game, because fans and players alike were waiting for an update on ACFC defender Savvy King. She's a twenty year old defender second pick in the twenty twenty four NWSL draft by BFC, but she's been a starter all season after joining Angel City

in February. You may have seen this story, but in the seventy fourth minute of the game, Savvy King collapsed on the field. Medical staff raced out to a ten tour and immediately I saw them frantically waving their arms to the sideline, and then I was terrified as I watched this one trainer sprint to the sideline to retrieve what appeared to be an AED machine. This is the defibrillator device that's used to revive someone who's experiencing sudden

cardiac arrest. Now, King was surrounded by trainers the whole time, but at one point we could see one individual who look like they were doing CPR and chess compressions on her before she was ultimately taken off the field on a cart. Now, for the entire ten minutes that she was down, the crowd was completely silent, the players from

both teams were visibly emotional. It was really terrifying to witness this in person, and it immediately reminded me of those awful, awful minutes watching NFL player Damar Hamlin when he was revived on the field in twenty twenty two. If you remember, he suffered a blow to the chest that caused cardiac arrest, and my mind immediately went there. I was so glad to see her get put on the cart, so glad to hear her taken to the hospital, and the NWSL confirmed after the game that she was

in stable condition at the hospital. Then they issued a statement on Saturday saying in part that she'll be undergoing more evaluation and that quote league protocols were followed from both a medical and game operations perspective. We are grateful to the Angel City medical staff as well as to

local paramedics, who handled this difficult situation seamlessly. As always, the NWSL will review and de term and if changes to that protocol need to be made end quote yeah, I mean shout out to the medics and the trainers who acted in that moment with incredible speed and bravery and potentially saved her life. I don't know that, we don't know exactly what happened, but it certainly seemed like

a very dire situation. After the game, some players and coaches questioned why the match was allowed to continue, and Utah coach Jimmy Kunratz, who has undergone multiple heart surgeries himself, said in his postgame press conference quote, in those moments, I'm not sure if we should have continued the game. You're emotionally, not only them, but also our players were just scared. That's not the right situation to be in. But in the end we played on. That's the decision

other people have taken, which is fine. It was a really tough moment. End quote. We'll link to a story from the Athletic in our show notes that dives into the decision to continue the game. In the meantime, we're sending all of our best to Savvy King and her recovery to hockey. Game three of Minnesota Frost Toronto scepters a high scoring affair in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with the Frost grabbing this set seven five win and taking a two games to one lead in the five game series.

Two goals apiece for michaela Cova and Brooke mcquig in the win for the defending Walter Cup champs. The Frost had evened the series with the Scepters on Friday Night, winning five to three behind a monster night from Lee's deckline, who had two goals and an assist. Polarizing Frost player Brita. Curl Selemi was suspended for that Game two after an illegal head check on Toronto's were not a fast in Game one. This was Carl Selem's third suspension of the season.

Interesting note, so one of Carl Selemi's Frost teammates, Taylor Heisei, liked a Jackson Jill's Instagram post announcing curl Sleme's suspension very intriguing. Plenty of others have had thoughts on curl Slemi being a repeat offender this season, including Alyssa Turner of the Icegarden dot Com, whose opinion column argues that a one game suspension was not enough. We'll link to that story in the show notes. We'll also link to

the league's official explanation video of the punishment. We do really appreciate how transparent the PWHL are about these issues to the other series, The Ottawa Charge up one game to none on the Montreal Victoire heading into Sunday's Game two, which turned out to be the longest game in PWHL history, Catherine Dubois scoring at fifteen thirty three of the fourth overtime to lift the Victoire to a three to two

win and even the series at a game. Apiece and Renee Deben made sixty two saves in the win for Montreal. In fact, Roade Slice Dana Holtbert on Blue Sky quote the epic in Quebec took over five and a half hours with four overtimes at Sarah, Spain. Please give a good game to both Debn and Phillips, the goalies in this game. End quote done. Good game, Debn, Good game, Gwyneth Phillips. The series shifts to Ottawa for the next two games, with Game three tomorrow night at TD Place.

Speaking of hockey, Slice, Ava g reached out to ask why the Athletic and the ESPN app don't have the PWHL on their scores tab. We've actually mentioned this before. ESPN claims adding new leagues to the app is far more complicated than one might think, but we are told to ask is in so maybe hopefully they're working on

it behind the scenes for next season. Also, the great Meg Linahan not just the host of the full Time podcast, but also the women's sports lead at the Athletics, so I reached out to her and she let me know they're pushing for it there too, but she doesn't think the site's stats provider currently supports them. In the meantime, Alex says you could check out an app called flash Score, which has scores for all of the leagues PWHL, WNBA, NWSL, PVF.

We'll link to it in our show notes. Thanks for the question, Ava, and also shout out to your cute pup Zuggie. To Volleyball News, the twenty twenty five Pro Volleyball Federation season is over and the Orlando Valkyries are champions. Orlando beat the India ig Nite three sets to one to secure the title and the one million dollars in bonus money that came with it. Opposite hitter Britney Abercrombie led the way with thirty one of her team seventy

points in those four sets. Also got to give a huge shout out to Abercrombie for being named opposite Hitter of the Year and PVFMVP on Saturday before the final match, both honors well deserved, as Abercrombie set league records with four hundred and sixty two kills, forty three point six kills per set, twelve hundred and eight attacks, and five hundred three points Dominance to Hoops where the New York Liberty playned the WNBA's last preseason game tonight at Matthew

Knight Arena on the University of Oregon campus. It'll be a homecoming for former Ducks niar Aesabili and sabrinian Escu, who never really got to say a proper goodbye as Nunescu's senior year was interrupted by COVID, no senior night, no ncaattorney. So when New York takes on the Toyota Antelopes of the Women's Japan Basketball League tonight, it will be a chance for the Oregon Faithful to finally give Sabrina her flowers for an incredible career with the Ducks.

And she hooked them up too, because she brought her Liberty squad to Rennie's Landing a bar on campus on Saturday night, buying fans beer and hanging out in advance of tonight's game. Pretty cool. You can catch that one live at seven pm Eastern tonight on WNBA League Pass for zero dollars and zero cents. More hoops and more heartbreaking WNBA cuts Ole miss guard forward Madison Scott, drafted number fourteen overall by the Dallas Wings, has been waved.

Also last week, the Indiana Fever waved the number twenty overall pick Bree Haul out of South Carolina. Finally in hoops more Chicago baby news A baby vander Quiggs. Chicago's Sky supercuple Courtney vander Slute and Ali Quigley announced the arrival of their little girl, Jana Christine vander Slute Quiggly, born on April eighth. Vander Slute returned to the Sky this season after two seasons with the Liberty, including winning a title with them last year, and Quigley played for

the Sky from twenty thirteen to twenty twenty two. One of my favorite sports moments ever was watching vander Slute absolutely lose her mind cheering for Quigley in her final All Star three point contest in Chicago over All Star Week, and a couple of years ago, it was her record fourth three point contest win, and just watching Courtney go was so fun. The sweetest couple. We're so happy for them.

To the Diamond, where college softball conference championships took place over the weekend, including an unprecedented double champ So bad weather in Athens, Georgia resulted in the cancellation of Saturday's SEC Softball Championship game between Oklahoma and Texas A and M. And because it was deemed a no contest, the Sooners and Aggies are co champions of the twenty twenty five SEC Softball Tournament, first time they've been co champions since

it began in nineteen ninety seven. Sunday night, the live NCAA Tournament selection show took place on ESPN two, and the sixty fourteen field is set for the first time in program history. Texas A and M was named the number one overall seed in the twenty twenty five NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma, winners of the last four College World Series, are right behind them at number two. In fact, the SEC bost seven of the top eight national seeds for the tournament.

Fourteen of the league's fifteen teams made the Ncuba tournament, with only Missouri getting left out. We'll share a link to the sixty fourteen field and the schedule in our show notes. Want to send out a quick shout out to the boss Lady Laura Correnti, founder of Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, who announced she's expecting a baby with her husband this November. Kingratz goes out to Laura, We're

gonna take a quick break when we come back. How's my Chicago Sky looking entering the twenty twenty five WNBA season. We'll discuss the deets you need to know stick around Welcome back Splices. The first of today's pair of previews is my hometown squad, the Chicago Sky, who finished with a thirteen and twenty seven record last season, losing Angelries to injury in early September and missing the playoffs for the first time since twenty eighteen. Here's your need to

know Sky history. Founded in two thousand and five, the team played its first season in two thousand and six. They've made the finals twice, losing to the Phoenix Mercury in twenty fourteen and beating the Phoenix Mercury in twenty twenty one to capture their first and only title. Great players in Sky history are plenty, including Candace Dupre, Sylvia Fowls, Christy Tolliver, Epiphany Prince, Tischa Pennicero, Ruth Riley, Swin Cash,

Elena Deladon, and Candace Parker. Colia Copper, who's still active in now playing with the Mercury, was Finals MVP when the Sky won that title. Twenty twenty five tagline for the team, the Sky's the Limit. Let's talk additions and losses for this team. They lost Marina Maybury via trade midway through last season, and she was responsible for forty six percent of their three point attempts before the trade.

They also sent another sharpshooter, Dana Evans, to the Las Vegas Aces and assign and trade over the off season, and they chose not to re sign last year's leading scorer Kennedy Carter. They did add quite a few contributors, though, including bringing back two time WNBA champion, five time All Star, and seven time WNBA assists leader Courtney Van der Slut, who spent the first twelve seasons of her career in Chicago. They also added former All Star Kia Nurse and free

agency as well. Making the Sky Nurses fifth WNBA team. She most recently played with the Sparks last season. The Sky acquired WNBA champion and two time All Star Ariel Atkins, the Washington Mystics leading scorer last season, via trade, same with three point threat Rebecca Allen acquired from Connecticut. They also made a change at coach, hiring new head coach Tyler Marsh in November after beloved former Hall of Fame player Teresa Weatherspoon effectually known as t Spoon, was fired

after just one season at the Helm. Marsh spent ten years coaching on the men's side before joining the Las Vegas Aces for the last three seasons as an assistant, helping them to titles in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three. Marsh has also hired former Atlanta Dream head coach Tanisha Wright as an assistant coach. Wright was let go by the Dream at the end of last season. Some notable draft picks for the Sky this year include TCU standout Hayley van Litt at number eleven and Notre

Dames Matty Westbelt at sixteen. The team also took Slovenian player Aisha Sievka tenth overall, but the nineteen year old doesn't look like she'll come to the WNBA this season. As for the stars on this team, a few shining stars alongside the quiet veteran Van der Slute, who's not just a fan favorite but also a legendary dime dealer. Only eight times has the player averaged at least eight assists per game in WNBA history, and she accounts for six of those eight. She's quiet, though she does her

work on the court. The biggest star not so quiet, Angel Reese, the seventh overall pick in the twenty twenty four draft. Reese is already a mini mogul after leading LSU to its first ever national championship in twenty twenty three and averaging the most rebounds per game in SEC history her senior year. She entered the w with a question mark next to her name. Would her game translate? And she answered with a resounding yes. We'll get to

the records that she broke in a minute. She did so in style, too, though, as one of the most popular players in the league, attending met galas, hosting her own podcast, and hawking a ton of products from Reese's pieces to McDonald's Kamilla Cardoso, also a star. A highly touted rookie in last year's draft, she was selected third overall by the Sky out of South Carolina. She missed the first six games of last season with the shoulder injury and the last two games of the season as well,

but this year hoping for an injury free campaign. Her game translated extremely well last season, in part thanks to the preparation she did with the game Cocks in three years of her college hoops under Don Staley and how battle tested she was. She was a big reason the game Cocks won NCAA titles in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty four. So what are the stakes for this team after missing the postseason last year? Due to the talent on this squad, I wouldn't be surprised if fans

think a championship is attainable this year. As for me, I think a lot of things would have to go right for them to compete with the likes of the Liberty and the Lynx. This team's got new pieces that'll need some time to mesh, and they need to adjust to what expects to be a very different approach under new head coach Marsh playoffs are a goal, but I

don't think they're ready to win it all. Let's talk stats, because a couple of Sky players filled up the box score last year, but the team has some pretty big statistical holes to fill. First, the good Angel Rees set a new WNBA record for consecutive double doubles, notching one in fifteen straight games and finishing with twenty six on

the season, the most ever by a rookie. She also averaged a league record thirteen point one rebounds per game and broke the league's single season rebounding record with four hundred and forty six rebounds before missing the end of the season to injury and getting passed by the Aces Asia Wilson. Despite missing early games to injury, Reese's classmate, Cardoso still came close to averaging a double double in

twenty twenty four. Her nine point eight points were third most among rookies and seven point nine rebounds per game were second among newcomers, behind only Reese. Also, per her Hoopstats, Cardoso was one of just nine players in the league last year who averaged at least nine points per game and seven rebounds per game while shooting at least fifty percent on field goal attempts. Now, remember that good shooting,

because here comes the bad. The Sky attempted a league low fourteen point nine threes per game last season and averaged only four point eight. Makes the next closest team, the Connecticut Sun, took at least eighteen threes per game, and the league leading Liberty boasted twenty nine attempts per game, draining ten plus per game. Now, the additions of Nurse Alan and Atkins should help them improve beyond the arc, where new coach Marsh has given them the green light

to quote let it fly. Their issues weren't just from deep though the team ranked eleventh in field goal percentage, twelfth in restricted area field goal percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Their dominance on the offensive boards gave them second and third chances, but they need to tighten things up when it comes to their shooting. Now. I know what some of you are thinking, are all those numbers due to Angel Reese struggling to finish inside? No,

but that's certainly part of it. Reese committed to working on her layups over the offseason, working with Lisa Leslie Wilett unrivaled, and she should also benefit from a much better offense, hopefully less clogged, less predictable, less dependent on her to make things happen inside since defenders will hopefully need to respect the perimeter guards this year. Now, with Angel Reese on your squad, you're never short of stories.

Beyond the constant media battles debating Angel versus Caitlin, Beyond the content creation and headline generating she did with her podcast and her endorsements. Beyond the nearly five million followers on Instagram alone, Angel also sold tickets and put butts in seats. Last year, Producer Misch went to the Washington Mystic Chicago Sky game. They got moved to Capitol One Arena, a twenty thousand plus seat venue, and when Reese was

announced in the starting lineup, the screams were deafening. Cardoso came off the bench in that game and during the dead ball she got more of the same. Both players carried over huge fan bases from college, and that makes sense considering the national championships they each brought to their schools. You also got van der Slute returning not only to a team that she won a championship with, but a team that she used to plan with her wife, who I mentioned earlier in the show, Ali Quigley, who was

a knocked down three point shooter. Now Quigley has sat out the last two WNBA seasons, and as I mentioned, they've got a new baby to care for. But for my hoops and gay shit lovers, she's technically not officially retired, so you'd never know. Fun fact about the Sky. They finally dumped their lay mass excuse for a mascot, Sky Guy, near the end of last season, and introduced Sky the Lioness, sort of an Ellie the Elephant disciple. She was built

by the same mascot designer now. Naming her Sky with an E at the end, which makes it tough to distinguish when you're talking whether you're talking about the team or the mascot was a choice. Also, no one knows why her head is yellow and her body is blue. But whatever, Literally, anything is better than Sky Guy, and I'm going to give Sky the Lioness a year or so to really get into her groove. All right, me, I know you're sitting in the airport waiting to fly home, But what did I miss?

But then you add Courtney Vanderslut's ability to orchestrate her championship experience to the mix. You've got Elizabeth Williams, She's a steady interior presence, then Rebecca Allen who can shoot that thing, defensive lockdown capabilities, and then Ariel Atkins the same great perimeter defender, also a playmaker, also can shoot it. Rachel Banham can shoot, Hayley Ben Like, there's just up and down the roster. You got folks who can play

the hell out of their roles. But I'm interested to see who the go to is gonna be on this squad though, because there isn't a Kennedy Carter esque player who can get them a bucket at will in my humble opinion, but on the flip, that might not matter as much as it could on other squads because defensively, long story short, for this guy, they're going to be really really hard to score on.

advantage of those two bigs inside. If they don't hit from three, which they have not in the past couple of seasons, it really makes it easy to focus inside. And that's why I think to your point, those three point shooters are going to be huge. All right, We got to take another break when we come back. Time to dive into Mesh's Mystics. All right, slices, let's talk the Washington Mystics. Mish's team, who finished fourteen to twenty

six last season. Finishing ninth and missing the playoffs actually a decent mark, considering they started the season oh to twelve, the worst start in franchise history. Here's what you need to know about the Mystics history. The team was one of the first two expansion teams to join the league in nineteen ninety eight, one year after the original eight began play, and they share an owner with the MNBA

Washington Wizards. They've made the postseason in thirteen of twenty three seasons, reaching the finals for the first time in twenty eighteen, losing to the Seattle Storm, but winning their first and only title the next year over the Connecticut Sun. Top players in Mystics team history include Shamiqua Holdshaw, Elena Beard, Crystal Langhorne, Christy Tolliver, and Elena Deladon. The team's twenty twenty five tag line, come for the Brunch, Suffer through

the basketball. Sorry, Mesh. Let's talk additions and losses and why I think fans might be more excited about those bottomless mimosas during the brunch and basketball promo than they will be about the team's postseason chances. First, the goodbyes. Elena Deladon announced her retirement this offseason after electing to sit out last year, and the team can now officially move on without wondering if she'll ever be able to return.

The team also traded last year's leading scorer Ariel Atkins to the Sky, sent Carly Samuelson to the Links, and let shatory Walker Kimberle leave for the Atlanta Dream. After mutually agreed to part ways with both head coach Eric Tebow and general manager Mike Tebow, who had been with the team for over a decade, they hired longtime college coach Sidney Johnson and named former WNBA player Jamila Wideman

as the team's new GM. Johnson's experience is mainly in men's college basketball, though he was an assistant with Chicago last season. The Mystics added some major talent in the draft, and number three pick Sonya Citron out of Notre Dame and number four pick Kiki Eriafen out of USC. Unfortunately, number six pick Georgia Amore has already suffered an ACL injury in preseason camp and she'll be out for the season.

Let's talk the stars of this squad. Britney Sykes, the runner up for Rookie of the Year back in twenty seventeen, was second in scoring to the departed Atkins last season, and in the offseason she helped roseby C win the first Unrivaled championship, leading the team in scoring and sinking

the title winning free throw. Eliah Edwards, a Yukon product who was selected sixth and last year's draft, also turned heads and Unrivaled this offseason, making it to the finals of the inaugural one v one competition, where she fell to Champ No Fisa Collier. She could be primed for

a breakout year. The stakes for this team, To quote producer mish Lo, this team just doesn't have the firepower to compete with the best in the league, and they're going to need time to get youngsters Citron and Eriafen up to speed. This season is all about growth, figuring out who to build around for the future, and finding their way back into the playoffs. Sooner rather than later.

As for stats, the Mystics have finished seventh or worse in offensive rating every season since they won the title in twenty nineteen, and they slid on defense last year too. After leading the league in defensive rating in twenty twenty two, they dropped to fifth in twenty twenty three and fell even further down to seventh last season. When they're healthy, Psychs and Shakira Austin are effective defenders, so if they can stay in the game, they'll look to help the

Mystics fix their defensive woes. As for stories and Laura, on this team, Steph Dolson aka Big Mama Steph can be counted on for solid social content, often showing off her fantastic fits and flaunting her unique fashion sense, and rookies amor Ereafen and Citron also showed some stylish sides at the draft, so we'll see if that keeps up

during the season. Fun fact about the Mystics, Misha's parents used to take them to Mystics games when she was a wee babe, and at one game against the Houston Comets, who else but WNBA legend RYL Swoops came over to hold infant Mesh. There's a super cute picture of the two of them on Misha's Insta. We'll link to it in our show notes. All right back to airport, Mesh, What I forget about your squad? Oh?

of bigs in camp right now. They've got her, Shakira Austin, as I mentioned, Eliah Edwards, as I mentioned Stephanie Dolson, and Sika Kone at the time we're recording this, and unfortunately, as we know, everybody can't make the team, or maybe they can, you know, maybe they can.

love you, She don't Kiky, don't you love me? We love that you're listening, but we want you to get in the game every day too. Like listener CJ, who left us this voicemail.

that impact their revenue and everything else about the team. Honestly, so we're very intrigued here in Atlanta, here at the Dream We're going to move to a big arena at some point. Besides for the Kaling card games. Thanks for all of y'all do Sears.

So there was a recent interview with front office Sports and team president Morganshaw Parker said the team is looking for a new home that would fit about twelve thousand to fourteen thousand fans, whether that's via a new build or by partnering with an existing stadium. So we'll link to that story in our show notes if you want

to check it out. Also want to shout out our resident Connecticut Sun correspondent who was back with thoughts on our preview of that team, including thoughts on Mish's comments about the team's arena. Matt Douglass wrote, quote, I heard what Mesh said about Mohegan being remote. That's a hard hear and we don't use that word around here. We prefer scenic surroundings, bucolic and yeah, it's a casino, but it has great food options too. End quote, Ha, scenic surroundings.

You should be a realtor, Matt. It's not small, it's cozy, it's not dated, it's charming. Thanks for writing in. We always love to hear from you. Also hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven to two two oh four fifty seventy. Don't forget to subscribe. Rate and Review. Y'all seriously, go now leave us five stars. Say something nice. It's easy watch calling Trump's bluff. Rating ten out of

ten review. The Trump administration and the USDA has agreed to restore federal funding for education programs in the state of Maine, ending a freeze that stemmed from the President's stance on transgender athletes. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins had frozen funds for nutrition programs in Maine after Trump threatened the state over their refusal to ban trans athletes from participating

in women's sports. Now, you might remember back in February when the President threatened main Governor Janet Mills at the White House, and she responded, quote, we'll see you in court. Well, after suing the USDA and getting the funds restored, Mills said, quote I told them I'd see him in court. Well, we did see him in court and we won. End quote. Yeah, Now it's your turn. Rate and Review slcenes. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow when we up. You for the Minnesota

Links and the Las Vegas Aces. Good game, Chicago, Good game, Washington, you bullies, We'll punch back. Good game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You could find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,

Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain