After falling in the season opener, the Chicago Sky (0-1) welcome in the New York Liberty (1-0) for their first Cup game of the season.

The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup was first put in place in 2021 as an in-season tournament. Each team will play 10 designated “Cup Games” per season. These games will be the first road and home game against each team’s five conference rivals. 

After the 10 games are played, the top teams in the Eastern and Western will play a championship game with a prize pool of $500,000. The winning team will get $30,000 per player, the MVP will get an extra $5,000 and the losing team will get $10,000 per player.

Looking back at 2021

In 2021, the Sky won two of the three meetings against the Liberty. The one loss came early in the season at home with both Candace Parker and Allie Quigley sidelined due to injury. 

In the two wins, the Sky defense kicked into high gear, limiting the Liberty’s top scorers in Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney, forcing everything inside. The two sharpshooters combined for only 8 3-point attempts over the two games.

Offensively, Parker put up a combined 35 points between the 2 games and crashed the boards, earning a double-double in the second matchup against the Liberty on June 22. Just behind her was Courtney Vandersloot, who dished 19 assists over the two victories.

Looking to Wednesday

The Sky will still be without Quigley as a precautionary measure. She sat out the season opener as she does not feel at 100%.

The Liberty are coming off a close 81-79 season opener win against the Connecticut Sun. New York added a familiar face this offseason by grabbing former Sky Stefanie Dolson in free agency. 

The Sky dropped their home opener Friday in overtime, 98-91 to the Los Angeles Sparks. Dana Evans led the way with a team-high and career-high 24 points followed by Parker with 21.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Marquee Sports Network. Fans can also stream on the Marquee Sports Network app.