Chicago City Wire

The Chicago Sky will face the Phoenix Mercury for their second encounter of the season on Saturday, June 21, at Wintrust Arena. The teams previously met in May, with the Sky narrowly losing to Phoenix 89-94 despite a strong offensive performance.

Phoenix's victory was spearheaded by Satou Sabally, who scored 20 points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Sabally is averaging 19.6 points and 8.5 rebounds this season. Kitija Laksa contributed significantly off the bench with 18 points for the Mercury.

The Sky will focus on disrupting Alyssa Thomas, who leads the league in assists per game with an average of 9.0, along with scoring 14.8 points and grabbing 7.7 rebounds per game. Kahleah Copper missed the first matchup due to a knee injury but has been effective in her two appearances this season, averaging 12.0 points. She remains day-to-day ahead of Saturday's game.

Phoenix recently secured an 89-81 win over New York on Thursday, extending their winning streak to four games. The Mercury retained only Copper and Natasha Mack from last season during a significant offseason overhaul.

Phoenix's depth has been key to their success this year, with four rookies playing pivotal roles in their rotation: Kathryn Westbeld (sister of Maddy Westbeld), Laksa, Monique Akoa Makani, and Lexi Held collectively contributing an average of 32.7 points per game. Veteran Sami Whitcomb is also performing well as a starter.

In their previous meeting against Phoenix, Chicago excelled in rebounding, out-rebounding them 42-30 and outscoring them in the paint 44-32. All five starters for Chicago scored in double figures during that game, led by Ariel Atkins' performance of 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists.

Chicago recently lost a close match against Washington on Tuesday with a score of 72-79 but achieved a season-best shooting percentage of 49.2% from the field despite the defeat. Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese both recorded double-doubles; Cardoso scored 18 points while Reese added another impressive performance with her averages over recent games standing at 14.3 points,10.8 rebounds,and5 .5 assists.

Historically speaking ,Chicago trails behind Phoenix in head-to-head matchups holding record stats standing at18 -29

Hailey Van Lith's impact could be crucial for Chicago moving forward; she scored career-high16points shooting75%from field alongside five rebounds during victory against Sun back on June15.VanLith’s increased minutes may provide much-needed spark off bench versus upcoming opponents like Phoenix