2016 Chicago Sky season

The 2016 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 11th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The season began on May 14th, at home against the Connecticut Sun.

The Sky began the season with a win, but could not sustain that momentum and lost their next four games. They finished May with a win and extended their streak with three wins to start June. However, they only won one of their final five games in June to finish the first two months of the season with a 6–9 record. The Sky split a home and away matchup with Washington to begin July and lost two of their next three. The won three of their last four to end the month with a 5–4 record. The Sky came out of the Olympic break strongly, winning both their games in August and their first two in September. They lost their next two, before winning three in a row. They could not overcome Seattle on the final day of the season and finished with an 18–16 regular season record.

Their record was good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference and the fourth overall seed in the 2016 WNBA Playoffs. They earned a bye into the Second Round where they defeated sixth-seed Atlanta 108–98 and advanced to the Semifinals. There they matched-up against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks defeated the Sky 3 games to 1 and would go on to finish as WNBA Champions.

Transactions

WNBA draft

Trades and Roster Changes

Roster

Depth

Schedule

Preseason

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || May 1 || New York || W 93–59 || Elena Delle Donne (17) || Betnijah Laney (7) || Courtney Vandersloot (4) || Bob Carpenter Center<br>3,432 || 1–0 |- bgcolor="ffcccc" | 2 || May 4 || Connecticut || L 84–81 || Elena Delle Donne (13) || Jessica Breland (6) || Jamierra Faulkner (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena<br>4,207 || 1–1 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 3 || May 5 || Atlanta || W 95–75 || Betnijah Laney (14) || Cheyenne Parker (5) || Courtney Vandersloot (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena<br>4,025 || 2–1 |-

Regular season

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || May 14 || Connecticut || W 93–70 || Vandersloot (14) || Breland (9) || Vandersloot (7) || Allstate Arena<br>6,719 || 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 || May 18 || Minnesota || L 80–97 || Delle Donne (28) || Delle Donne<br>Young (6) || Vandersloot (11) || Allstate Arena<br>5,034 || 1–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 || May 22 || @ Atlanta || L 81–87 || Pondexter (17) || Breland (10) || Pondexter (5) || Philips Arena<br>6,152 || 1–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 || May 24 || Los Angeles || W 80–93 || Faulkner 17 || Breland<br>Young (9) || Faulkner (10) || Allstate Arena<br>5,554 || 1–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 || May 27|| @ San Antonio || L 78–79 || Delle Donne (27) || de Souza<br>Delle Donne (9) || Faulkner (11) || AT&T Center<br>5,210 ||1–4 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 6 || May 29 || @ Dallas || W 92–87 || Pondexter (18) || Boyette (8) || Faulkner (9) || College Park Center<br>5,297 || 2–4 |-

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 7 || June 1<br />6:00 PM || @ Washington || W 86–78 || Delle Donne (18) || Delle Donne (9) || Vandersloot (8) || Verizon Center<br>5,649 || 3–4 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 8 || June 3<br />7:30 PM || Washington || W 98–72 || Delle Donne (18) || de Souza (7) || Faulkner (9) || Allstate Arena<br>5,489 || 4–4 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 9 || June 10<br />6:00 PM|| @ Indiana || W 73–64 || Boyette (16) || Boyette (12) || Vandersloot (6) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>7,533 || 5–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 10 || June 12<br />5:00 PM || @ Phoenix || L 80–86 || Delle Donne (18) || de Souza (7) || de Souza, Faulkner (3) || Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,055 || 5–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 || June 14<br />9:30 PM || @ Los Angeles || L 85–98 || Pondexter (20) || de Souza (12) || Pondexter (5) || Staples Center<br>7,348 || 5–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 || June 17<br />6:30 PM || @ Atlanta || L 97–101 OT || Delle Donne (26) || de Souza (8) || Vandersloot, Pondexter, Faulkner (5) || Philips Arena<br>4,560 || 5–7 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 13 || June 21<br />7:00 PM || San Antonio || W 81–75 || Delle Donne (23) || Young (9) || Faulkner, Young, Delle Donne (3) || Allstate Arena<br>5,744 || 6–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 14 || June 24<br />6:30 PM || @ New York || L79–80 || Delle Donne (31) || Delle Donne (8) || Vandersloot (5) || Madison Square Garden<br>10,120 || 6–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 || June 29<br />11:30 AM || Indiana || L 83–95 || Delle Donne (21) || Delle Donne (6) || Pondexter (6) || Allstate Arena<br>11,892 || 6–9

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 16 || July 1<br />6:00 PM || Washington || W 86–84 OT || Delle Donne (28) || Delle Donne (11) || Vandersloot (5) || Allstate Arena<br>5,320 || 7–9 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 17 || July 5<br />7:30 PM || @ Washington || L 82–87 || Delle Donne (38) || Delle Donne (10) || Faulkner (7) || Target Center<br>7,433 || 7–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 18 || July 8<br />7:30 PM || New York || L 85–88 || Quigley (29) || Delle Donne (7) || Faulkner (5) || Allstate Arena<br>5,633 || 7–11 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 19 || July 10<br />6:00 PM|| Phoenix || W 100–95 || Quigley (21) || Boyette (13) || Vandersloot, Faulkner (7) || Allstate Arena<br>7,021 || 8–11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 20 || July 13<br />5:00 PM || Los Angeles || L 67–77 || Delle Donne (15) || Boyette (7) || Vandersloot, Faulkner (5) || Allstate Arena<br>16,444 || 8–12 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 21 || July 14<br />9:30 PM || Los Angeles || W 84–77 || Delle Donne (24) || Boyette (8) || Faulkner (6) || Allstate Arena<br>6,012 || 9–12 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 22 || July 17<br />6:30 PM || @ Seattle || W 91–88 || Delle Donne (35) || Delle Donne (11) || Faulkner (4) || KeyArena || 10–12 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 23 || July 19<br />7:00 PM || @ Phoenix || L 77–79 || Delle Donne (18) || Boyette (10) || Vandersloot (3) || Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,318 || 11–12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 24 || July 22<br />6:30 PM || Connecticut || L 89–94 || Delle Donne (20) || Breland (8) || Vandersloot (6) || Allstate Arena<br>6,893 || 11–13

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 25 || August 26<br />11:30 AM || Atlanta || W 90–82 || Delle Donne (34) || Boyette (9) ||Delle Donne, Pondexter (5) || Allstate Arena<br>6,016 || 12–13 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 26 || August 28<br />11:30 AM || @ Dallas || W 92–85 || Delle Donne (18) || Delle Donne (9) || Vandersloot (9) || College Park Center<br>5,651 || 13–13

|- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 27 || September 2<br />11:30 AM || Seattle || W 92–88 || Young (24) || Breland (10) || Vandersloot, Pondexter (5) || Allstate Arena<br>5,997 || 14–13 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 28 || September 4<br />11:30 AM || San Antonio || W 97–73 || Delle Donne (35) || Boyette (7) ||Vandersloot, Pondexter 5 || Allstate Arena<br>6,034 || 15–13 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 29 || September 7<br />6:00 PM|| @ Washington || L 81–118 || Vandersloot (17) || Boyette (7) || Vandersloot (8) || Verizon Center<br>5,373 || 15–14 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 30 || September 9<br />5:00 PM || @ Los Angeles || L 88–95 || Pondexter (22) || Breland (9) || Vandersloot (4) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>10,533 || 15–15 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 31 || September 11<br />9:30 PM || @ Los Angeles || W 96–86 || Pondexter (24) || Breland (10) || Pondexter (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena<br>6,620 || 16–15 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" |32 || September 13<br />6:30 PM || Minnesota || W 98–97 OT || Pondexter (24) || de Souza (11) || Pondexter (4) || Allstate Arena<br>6,050 || 17–15 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 33 ||September 16<br />7:00 PM || New York || W 92–68 || Young (22) || Young (9) || Faulkner (11) || Allstate Arena<br>7,925 || 18–15 |- style="background:#fcc;" |34 || September 18<br />6:30 PM || @ Seattle || L 75–88 || Faulkner, Breland (14) || Boyette, de Souza (6) || Faulkner (7) || KeyArena<br>12,186 || 18–16

Playoffs

|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | September 25 | Atlanta | W 108–98 | Vandersloot (21) | Breland (16) | Vandersloot (13) | Allstate Arena<br>3,922 | 1–0

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | September 28 | @ Los Angeles | L 75–95 | Faulkner (13) | Breland (7) | Vandersloot (5) | Walter Pyramid<br>3,894 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | September 30 | @ Los Angeles | L 84–99 | dos Santos (15) | Breland (9) | Quigley (5) | Staples Center<br>7,855 | 0–2 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 3 | October 2 | Los Angeles | W 70–66 | Vandersloot (17) | McGee-Stafford (11) | Faulkner, Vandersloot (5) | Allstate Arena<br>5,018 | 1–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | October 4 | Los Angeles | L 75–95 | Pondexter (19) | McGee-Stafford (10) | Young (6) | Allstate Arena<br>3,841 | 1–3

Standings

Playoffs

The Sky's 18–16 regular season record was good for second in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall in the WNBA. This standing led to Chicago being seeded fourth and being granted an automatic bye from the first of two single elimination rounds. In the second single elimination round, the Sky drew sixth-seeded Atlanta, defeating the Dream 108–98 and advancing to the best-of-five semifinal round. The Sky fell to second-seeded Los Angeles in the semifinals, losing in four games.

Statistics

Regular season

Awards and honors

References

Footnotes

Notes