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.

2016 Chicago Sky season
CoachPokey Chatman
ArenaAllstate Arena
Attendance7,009 per game
Results
Record1816 (.529)
Place2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishFourth Seed, Lost in Semifinals to Los Angeles 3–1
Team Leaders
PointsElena Delle Donne – 21.5
ReboundsElena Delle Donne – 7.0
AssistsCourtney Vandersloot – 4.0
Media
TelevisionWMEU-CD
ESPN
ESPN2
NBA TV

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 Olypmic 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 Semfinals. 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

Round Pick Player Nationality School/team/country
1 10 Imani Boyette  United States Texas
3 34 Jordan Jones  United States Texas A&M

Trades and Roster Changes

Date Transaction
January 7, 2016 Extended Qualifying Offers to Jessica Breland, Clarissa dos Santos, and Jacki Gemelos
Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on Jamierra Faulkner
February 9, 2016 Signed Jessica Breland[1]
February 11, 2016 Signed Clarissa dos Santos to a training-camp contract[2]
March 7, 2016 Signed Yvonne Turner, Jacki Gemelos, and Shanece McKinney to training-camp contracts[3]
April 21, 2016 Signed Imani McGee-Stafford and Jordan Jones to rookie-scale contracts
Signed Maggie Lyon to a training-camp contract[4]
April 28, 2016 Waived Maggie Lyon
May 6, 2016 Waived Jacki Gemelos and Jordan Jones[5]
May 11, 2016 Waived Shanece McKinney[6]
May 12, 2016 Waived Yvonne Turner

Roster

2016 Chicago Sky Roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHt.Wt.From
C 34 Boyette, Imani 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) (1994-10-11)October 11, 1994 (aged 21) Texas
F 51 Breland, Jessica 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) (1988-02-23)February 23, 1988 (aged 28) North Carolina
F/C 41 de Souza, Érika 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) (1982-03-03)March 3, 1982 (aged 34) Brazil
G/F 11 Delle Donne, Elena 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) (1989-09-05)September 5, 1989 (aged 26) Delaware
C 8 dos Santos, Clarissa 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 196 lb (89 kg) (1988-03-10)March 10, 1988 (aged 28) Brazil
G 21 Faulkner, Jamierra 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 141 lb (64 kg) (1992-03-09)March 9, 1992 (aged 24) Southern Miss
G/F 44 Laney, Betnijah 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) (1993-10-29)October 29, 1993 (aged 22) Rutgers
F 32 Parker, Cheyenne 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) (1992-08-22)August 22, 1992 (aged 23) Middle Tennessee
G 23 Pondexter, Cappie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) (1983-01-07)January 7, 1983 (aged 33) Rutgers
G 14 Quigley, Allie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 140 lb (64 kg) (1986-06-20)June 20, 1986 (aged 29) DePaul
G 22 Vandersloot, Courtney 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 145 lb (66 kg) (1989-02-08)February 8, 1989 (aged 27) Gonzaga
F 1 Young, Tamera 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) (1986-10-30)October 30, 1986 (aged 29) James Madison
Head coach
Pokey Chatman (LSU)
Assistant coaches
Jonah Herscu (Lake Forest College)
Christie Sides (Louisiana Tech)
Athletic trainer
Heidi Wlezien
Strength and conditioning coach
Ann Crosby (Western Michigan)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured
Notes
  • Age of player is as of the start of the regular season.

Depth

Pos. Starter Bench
C Erika de Souza Imani McGee-Stafford
Clarissa dos Santos
PF Elena Delle Donne Jessica Breland
Cheyenne Parker
SF Tamera Young Betnijah Laney
SG Cappie Pondexter Allie Quigley
PG Courtney Vandersloot Jamierra Faulkner

Schedule

Preseason

2016 pre-season game log
May: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
2016 pre-season schedule

Regular Season

2016 game log
Total: 1816 (Home: 116; Road: 710)
May: 2–4 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
1May 14ConnecticutW 93–70Vandersloot (14)Breland (9)Vandersloot (7)Allstate Arena
6,719
1–0
2May 18MinnesotaL 80–97Delle Donne (28)Delle Donne
Young (6)
Vandersloot (11)Allstate Arena
5,034
1–1
3May 22@ AtlantaL 81–87Pondexter (17)Breland (10)Pondexter (5)Philips Arena
6,152
1–2
4May 24Los AngelesW 80–93Faulkner 17Breland
Young (9)
Faulkner (10)Allstate Arena
5,554
1–3
5May 27@ San AntonioL 78–79Delle Donne (27)de Souza
Delle Donne (9)
Faulkner (11)AT&T Center
5,210
1–4
6May 29@ DallasW 92–87Pondexter (18)Boyette (8)Faulkner (9)College Park Center
5,297
2–4
June: 4–5 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
7June 1
6:00 PM[lower-alpha 1]
@ WashingtonW 86–78Delle Donne (18)Delle Donne (9)Vandersloot (8)Verizon Center
5,649
3–4
8June 3
7:30 PM
WashingtonW 98–72Delle Donne (18)de Souza (7)Faulkner (9)Allstate Arena
5,489
4–4
9June 10
6:00 PM
@ IndianaW 73–64Boyette (16)Boyette (12)Vandersloot (6)Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,533
5–4
10June 12
5:00 PM
@ PhoenixL 80–86Delle Donne (18)de Souza (7)de Souza, Faulkner (3)Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,055
5–5
11June 14
9:30 PM
@ Los AngelesL 85–98Pondexter (20)de Souza (12)Pondexter (5)Staples Center
7,348
5–6
12June 17
6:30 PM
@ AtlantaL 97–101 OTDelle Donne (26)de Souza (8)Vandersloot, Pondexter, Faulkner (5)Philips Arena
4,560
5–7
13June 21
7:00 PM
San AntonioW 81–75Delle Donne (23)Young (9)Faulkner, Young, Delle Donne (3)Allstate Arena
5,744
6–7
14June 24
6:30 PM
@ New YorkL79–80Delle Donne (31)Delle Donne (8)Vandersloot (5)Madison Square Garden
10,120
6–8
15June 29
11:30 AM
IndianaL 83–95Delle Donne (21)Delle Donne (6)Pondexter (6)Allstate Arena
11,892
6–9
July: 5–4 (Home: 3–3; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
16July 1
6:00 PM[lower-alpha 1]
WashingtonW 86–84 OTDelle Donne (28)Delle Donne (11)Vandersloot (5)Allstate Arena
5,320
7–9
17July 5
7:30 PM
@ WashingtonL 82–87Delle Donne (38)Delle Donne (10)Faulkner (7)Target Center
7,433
7–10
18July 8
7:30 PM
New YorkL 85–88Quigley (29)Delle Donne (7)Faulkner (5)Allstate Arena
5,633
7–11
19July 10
6:00 PM
PhoenixW 100–95Quigley (21)Boyette (13)Vandersloot, Faulkner (7)Allstate Arena
7,021
8–11
20July 13
5:00 PM
Los AngelesL 67–77Delle Donne (15)Boyette (7)Vandersloot, Faulkner (5)Allstate Arena
16,444
8–12
21July 14
9:30 PM
Los AngelesW 84–77Delle Donne (24)Boyette (8)Faulkner (6)Allstate Arena
6,012
9–12
22July 17
6:30 PM
@ SeattleW 91–88Delle Donne (35)Delle Donne (11)Faulkner (4)KeyArena10–12
23July 19
7:00 PM
@ PhoenixL 77–79Delle Donne (18)Boyette (10)Vandersloot (3)Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,318
11–12
24July 22
6:30 PM
ConnecticutL 89–94Delle Donne (20)Breland (8)Vandersloot (6)Allstate Arena
6,893
11–13
August: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
25August 26
11:30 AM
AtlantaW 90–82Delle Donne (34)Boyette (9)Delle Donne, Pondexter (5)Allstate Arena
6,016
12–13
26August 28
11:30 AM
@ DallasW 92–85Delle Donne (18)Delle Donne (9)Vandersloot (9)College Park Center
5,651
13–13
September: 5–3 (Home: 4–0; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
27September 2
11:30 AM
SeattleW 92–88Young (24)Breland (10)Vandersloot, Pondexter (5)Allstate Arena
5,997
14–13
28September 4
11:30 AM
San AntonioW 97–73Delle Donne (35)Boyette (7)Vandersloot, Pondexter 5Allstate Arena
6,034
15–13
29September 7
6:00 PM
@ WashingtonL 81–118Vandersloot (17)Boyette (7)Vandersloot (8)Verizon Center
5,373
15–14
30September 9
5:00 PM
@ Los AngelesL 88–95Pondexter (22)Breland (9)Vandersloot (4)Bankers Life Fieldhouse
10,533
15–15
31September 11
9:30 PM
@ Los AngelesW 96–86Pondexter (24)Breland (10)Pondexter (5)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,620
16–15
32September 13
6:30 PM
MinnesotaW 98–97 OTPondexter (24)de Souza (11)Pondexter (4)Allstate Arena
6,050
17–15
33September 16
7:00 PM
New YorkW 92–68Young (22)Young (9)Faulkner (11)Allstate Arena
7,925
18–15
34September 18
6:30 PM
@ SeattleL 75–88Faulkner, Breland (14)Boyette, de Souza (6)Faulkner (7)KeyArena
12,186
18–16
2016 season schedule

Playoffs

2016 playoff game log
Second Round vs. Atlanta Dream
Won Series: 1–0
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1 September 25 Atlanta W 108–98 Vandersloot (21) Breland (16) Vandersloot (13) Allstate Arena
3,922
1–0
Semifinals vs. Los Angeles Sparks
Lost Series: 1–3
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1 September 28 @ Los Angeles L 75–95 Faulkner (13) Breland (7) Vandersloot (5) Walter Pyramid
3,894
0–1
2 September 30 @ Los Angeles L 84–99 dos Santos (15) Breland (9) Quigley (5) Staples Center
7,855
0–2
3 October 2 Los Angeles W 70–66 Vandersloot (17) McGee-Stafford (11) Faulkner, Vandersloot (5) Allstate Arena
5,018
1–2
4 October 4 Los Angeles L 75–95 Pondexter (19) McGee-Stafford (10) Young (6) Allstate Arena
3,841
1–3
2016 playoff schedule

Standings

Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
3 - New York Liberty2113.61810–711–611–5
4 - Chicago Sky1816.529311–67–108–8
5 - Indiana Fever1717.50048–99–88–8
6 - Atlanta Dream1717.500411–66–119–7
e - Connecticut Sun1420.41278–96–114–12
e - Washington Mystics1321.38285–128–98–8

Notes

# – Playoff seed
e – Eliminated from playoffs

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.

First round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 21)
Second round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 24 and 25)
Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)
WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(Oct. 9 – 20)
1Minnesota Lynx1139682
3New York Liberty948Phoenix Mercury958667
5Indiana Fever788Phoenix Mercury1011Minnesota Lynx7679758576
8Phoenix Mercury892Los Angeles Sparks7860927977
2Los Angeles Sparks95996695
4Chicago Sky1084Chicago Sky75847075
6Atlanta Dream946Atlanta Dream98
7Seattle Storm85

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Elena Delle Donne 28 28 33.1 48.5% 42.6% 93.5% 7.0 1.9 0.6 1.5 21.5
Cappie Pondexter 33 29 27.4 42.9% 36.2% 88.2% 2.8 2.7 0.9 0.1 12.9
Tamera Young 32 20 25.8 45.0% 0.0% 79.0% 4.5 1.4 0.8 0.1 8.5
Courtney Vandersloot 30 21 24.3 41.9% 35.1% 90.4% 2.7 4.7 1.4 0.1 9.5
Jamierra Faulkner 34 14 19.3 42.5% 33.3% 76.9% 1.5 4.6 1.1 0.1 7.8
Imani McGee-Stafford 31 16 18.9 55.4% 66.0% 5.6 0.6 0.6 1.4 6.7
Allie Quigley 34 0 17.8 47.1% 36.6% 89.5% 0.9 1.6 0.5 0.1 9.5
Jessica Breland 34 16 17.2 49.4% 79.5% 4.4 0.7 0.5 1.1 6.0
Érika de Souza 31 18 16.6 51.7% 75.0% 5.2 0.6 0.5 0.7 5.8
Cheyenne Parker 25 7 12.6 50.6% 0.0% 53.1% 3.2 0.2 0.5 0.2 4.0
Clarissa dos Santos 20 0 9.4 33.9% 0.0% 85.0% 2.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 2.9
Betnijah Laney 8 1 5.3 16.7% 0.0% 100% 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.0 1.0

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date awarded
Elena Delle Donne Eastern Conference Player of the Week July 18, 2016
September 6, 2016
Imani McGee-Stafford WNBA All-Rookie Team September 2016
Elena Delle Donne WNBA All-WNBA First Team September 2016

References

Footnotes

  1. All times are specified as Central Time.

Notes

  1. "Chicago sky re-signs forward Jessica Breland". hoopfeed.com. Hoopfeed. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  2. "Sky Re-Signs Clarissa Dos Santos". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  3. "Sky Adds Turner, McKinney and Gemelos to Training Camp Roster". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  4. "Chicago Sky Adds Maggie Lyon to Training Camp Roster". nusports.com. NU Sports. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  5. "Sky Waives Gemelos and Jones". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  6. "Sky waive Shanece McKinney". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
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