Michaela

Onyenwere

Onyenwere started Chicago’s most recent game, a July 16 loss to the Dream, but only played 12 minutes. She’s now dealing with a knee injury that will keep her sidelined for at least Tuesday’s matchup with the league-leading Lynx. This leaves Chicago down two rotation wings, with Ariel Atkins also out. Rebecca Allen is the likely replacement in the starting lineup, but she offers limited streaming value.

Inserted into the starting lineup for Sunday’s game, Onyenwere was solid in her 26 minutes on the court. However, there was an injury scare, as the Sky forward took a shoulder to the chin during the first half. After a brief spell in the locker room, Onyenwere returned and finished in double figures for the second time this season. Rebecca Allen, who was moved to the bench, finished with two points, one rebound and two assists in 15 minutes. Depending on when Kamilla Cardoso returns from the FIBA AmeriCup competition, Onyenwere may receive another opportunity to start when the Sky face the Mystics on Tuesday.

The latest change to the Sky’s starting unit features former Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere replacing second-year center Kamilla Cardoso. Cardoso scored a career-high 27 points in Chicago’s most recent game against the Sparks, but is temporarily stepping away from the Sky to compete in the 2025 FIBA Americup with the Brazilian National Team. Her interior presence will be missed, but the insertion of Onyenwere will provide the Sky a different look. She is averaging 4.4 points on 46.3/25.0/77.8 shooting splits.

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.

The Sky’s starting center was dominant against the Sparks’ front court out-muscling Los Angeles’ Azurá Stevens on the block and out running Dearica Hamby to the rim on pick-and-roll lob passes. Cardoso cut well in the quarter court and 80 percent of her made field goals were assisted, mostly via Rachel Banham and Ariel Atkins. Tuesday night’s win over the Sparks was Cardoso’s final game before she jets off to Chile for the AmeriCup to compete for the Brazilian National team until the second week in July. In her absence expect more minutes from center Elizabeth Williams in addition to Michael Onyenwere when Sky head coach Tyler Marsh opts to play Angel Reese as a small ball center.

Reese was limited to 21 minutes in Saturday’s blowout loss to the Mercury. The flow of the game may not have been the only reason for the second-year forward’s workload, as a leg injury has cast some doubt on her availability for Sunday’s game against the Dream. If Reese cannot play, Michaela Onyenwere will be of added importance to the Sky, whether she starts or comes off the bench. Like Chicago, the Dream employs a starting lineup with two posts, Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner.

Atkins’ scoring came from all three levels on Saturday afternoon, hitting from beyond the arc, in her midrange and then even scoring on a put-back at the rim. Without both Courtney Vandersloot and Moriah Jefferson, who are both natural point guards, Atkins has also had to shoulder the load as the Sky’s main distributor from the guard spot in their starting lineup. On Saturday afternoon she had four assists that led to high percentage shots which were two open threes from the right wing, including one of them from Angel Reese, in addition to a couple of makes at the rim from Michaela Onyenwere and Elizabeth Williams.

Onyenwere played most of her minutes when the game was completely out of reach for the Sky. But even in those 16 garbage time minutes in the second half, Onyenwere played hard and scored 13 of her total 17 points in those moments. Does Onyenwere earn a higher spot on the Sky’s depth chart because of her versatility especially when Chicago continues to struggle spacing the floor? It’s possible although maybe Onyenewere will also earn more minutes from her consistent effort, something that was missing from the Sky during moments in the first half when they gave up 12 made Mercury three-pointers.

Subbing in mostly for veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot, Van Lith was a steady presence who found her teammates Ariel Atkins, Michaela Onyenwere and Alex Wilson for open perimeter shots on dribble penetration. With the Sky down by two points with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Van Lith made a string of clutch plays that helped the Sky prevail over the Lynx. With 1:51 left in regulation, Van Lith forced Grace Berger into a turnover, and then moments later drilled a 26-foot three pointer off the bounce to give the Sky a 69-67 lead which fueled a 10-2 Chicago run to end the game. Van Lith led all Sky reserves in minutes in this game, though the starters’ minutes were limited in the exhibition.