CHICAGO — When Candace Parker signed with the Chicago Sky before the season, it seemed like a team with so much talent already had found its missing piece. In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Parker was just that, leaning into her playoff experience to guide the Sky to a comeback win over the Phoenix Mercury on the road.

Back in Chicago on Friday night for Game 3, with the series tied 1-1, Parker again rose to the occasion, scoring 13 points in front of a sold-out arena and many family and friends. But it was the Sky’s role players, the ones who’ve watched and learned from Parker and their veteran leaders all season, who helped close out Chicago’s 86-50 victory, the most lopsided in WNBA Finals history.

The way the Sky demolished the Mercury, with every player getting on the scoresheet to bring this team within one win of the WNBA championship, was fitting for a group that prides itself on its chemistry.

“It just feels like we’ve all known each other and been around each other forever — some of us have been for five, six years, but even Candace and the younger players,” Allie Quigley said earlier this week. “It’s just a feeling. It’s hard to describe. And we’re just kind of latching onto it and trying to make the most of this.”

Parker has talked repeatedly about her teammates’ ability to step up in moments when they’re needed. She and Quigley credited that to the adversity they faced during the regular season, when younger players were thrust into larger roles because of injuries.

Not done yet.#NoCeiling pic.twitter.com/MEeZSfmPZD

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) October 16, 2021

Dana Evans has served as the Sky’s backup point guard throughout the playoffs. Before Friday night, she averaged just under seven minutes per game, mostly filling in when Courtney Vandersloot needed a breather.

When coach James Wade turned to his second unit late in the third quarter and into the fourth, with the Sky leading the Mercury by 24 points, Evans stepped up. The rookie has been observing Vandersloot and Parker while waiting in the wings, and late in the game Friday she drained three 3-pointers in 48.4 seconds, outscoring both Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith on the night.

“Candace talks to me a lot and tells me about some experiences she had as a rookie where it wasn’t always great, which sometimes is hard to listen to with Candace because you’re like, ‘You were a Rookie of the Year and MVP.’ So it’s like, what did you go through?” Evans said with a laugh during a practice in Phoenix.

“She has a really high IQ, so I try to listen to her when she’s talking about scouts and looking at other people’s strengths and taking them away.”

Even Ruthy Hebard, who played a crucial role for the Sky in June when they followed a 2-7 start with a seven-game winning streak, made the most of her first minutes in the Finals, going 2-for-2 from the field.

“Me and Dana talk about it sometimes, like we’re really teammates with Candace Parker and Sloot and Kah[leah] Copper,” Hebard said. “They’re amazing players and they’re gonna go down in history, and we get to be a part of that. It’s really special.”

Wade spoke about the importance of resting his starters after the game, especially players like Copper who out-ran the Mercury most of the night for a game-high 22 points. The Sky have less than 48 hours to recover and prepare for Sunday’s Game 4, when they can clinch the series and win the first title in franchise history on their home court.

“This is a dream come true if you can get the starters rest, and knowing they’ll have their legs, no excuses to not have their legs on Sunday,” Wade said. “We were pretty happy about that.”

No Chicago bench player needed their performance Friday more than Diamond DeShields did. The fourth-year Sky guard and former All-Star has been through steep ups and downs this season, and acknowledged after the game that she’s had to lean on her teammates through the adversity.

With 11 points, five rebounds and five steals in front of a fan base that’s rallied around her, DeShields was asked afterwards to put this moment into context. She briefly reflected on her own journey with the Sky organization before turning her attention outward.

“I remember when James got here and just talking to him about what we wanted to accomplish,” DeShields said. “Having the players that we had, obviously having Candace here now, it would be an incredible accomplishment, not only just because we won but because of who we could do it with. This group is really special.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

The New York Liberty dominated Indiana on Thursday night, winning by a whopping 36 points in the Fever's home opener. 

A sold-out crowd of 17,274 was in attendance to watch as star rookie Caitlin Clark finished the 102-66 defeat with nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists. It’s the first time since January 2021 — her freshman season at Iowa — that Clark's been held to single-digit scoring. 

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"The physicality is definitely up there... I'm easily pushed off screens," she told reporters after the loss. "The game seems a little fast for me right now. The more I play and the more comfortable I get, it's going to slow down a little bit. It will be easier for me to make reads, see things develop."

The Fever were outscored by a combined margin of 57 points in their first two games — the largest two-game point deficit in WNBA season-opening history, according to @ESPNStatsInfo.

"We've got to get to a level of toughness," Fever coach Christie Sides in her own postgame remarks. "When things are going south on us, we're not stopping the bleeding."

"I have great perspective on everything that happens," Clark added. "It was the same in my college career. There were some moments that were absolutely amazing. And there were some moments I was not happy with how I played and how my team performed. That's just life, that's just basketball."

Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who herself experienced a rocky rookie season following a much-hyped college career, offered up some insight on the matter.

"In this league, there are tough defenses all centered around not letting you get the ball, trapping, not letting you score," Ionescu said. "There were many factors that played into what was a tough first season for me in the league, but it helps you be able to figure it out. You have to have those experiences."

But it was reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart that truly stole the show, racking up 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks on the night.

"In general, I just wanted to come out more aggressive coming off of last game," Stewart said after putting up the 24th 30-point game in her career.

Stewart she also commended the fans inside Indianapolis's packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, noting that she hopes that level of support to continue across the WNBA.

"This is how you want every game to be and when it's a sell-out crowd, it gives you a similar playoff atmosphere feel," she said. "People want to be a part of this and the thing now is to continue to sustain it, continue to take the momentum that we have and turn it into something more."

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert admitted to a "faulty rollout" of the new charter travel initiative on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Ahead of Tuesday's season opener, it was announced that the only teams flying private this week would be Indiana and Minnesota. The announcement came mere days after the league made a new charter flight program for all WNBA teams public. At the time, they said it would be implemented "as soon as we have the planes."

But as two teams out of 12 chartered to their first games of the season, others like the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky were forced to fly commercial.

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A town hall meeting between Engelbert and the players was held in response to the confusion. Everything from the league's new media rights deal to private travel was covered in the meeting, with players submitting their questions ahead of time. Sky center Elizabeth Williams told Sun-Times reporter Annie Costabile afterwards that cross-country flights were prioritized.

"Flights that are across the country like [the Lynx] going to Seattle, crossing multiple time zones, or flights that usually require a connection, those were the priorities," Williams said. "That’s why New York didn’t go to DC with a charter, but Minny goes to Seattle."

What’s unclear under that metric is that the Atlanta Dream played the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, which could technically be classified as a cross-country flight. 

On Tuesday, rookie forward Angel Reese shared a photo on her Instagram story lamenting the league's use of commercial flights.

"Just praying that this is one of the last commercial flights the Sky has to fly," Reese posted. The team still has at least three commercial flights awaiting them in the near future.

"Obviously, I think all teams should be able to get chartered," Reese told the Sun-Times. "But I know moving forward... going in the right direction, being able to have some teams [chartering] is cool. Within the next weeks, everybody will be flying charter, which will be really good."

On Thursday, Lindsay Schnell of USAToday Sports confirmed that the league intends to have all teams on charter flights by May 21st.

Brazil has been named the host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with FIFA announced early Friday. 

The decision came after a vote at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, with Brazil earning 119 votes to the joint European bid’s 78. 

This will be Brazil’s first time hosting the Women’s World Cup, with the country having hosted the men’s World Cup twice before in 1950 and 2014. It will also be the first Women’s World Cup held in South America. The tournament will follow the same 32-team format as the 2023 WWC in Australia and New Zealand.

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Brazil winning the bid was not entirely surprising after FIFA issued a report just last week, stating that the Brazilian bid had pulled ahead as host following technical inspection. After evaluation, Brazil was given a score of 4.0 out of 5, compared to the 3.7 awarded to the Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Brazil ranked higher in a number of key areas, including stadiums, accommodations, fan zones, and transport infrastructure. Though considered to be a frontrunner, the US and Mexico withdrew their joint bid prior to the technical inspection period, saying they would instead focus their efforts on 2031.

On Friday, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues called it a "victory." 

"We knew we would be celebrating a victory for South American women's soccer and for women," he told reporters. "You can be sure, with no vanity, we will accomplish the best World Cup for women."

"We are working on a transformation, not only for the country but for the continent," added bid team operational manager Valesca Araujo.

Brazil intends to use 10 of the venues utilized at the 2014 men’s World Cup, including holding the final in Rio de Janeiro on July 25th. The CBF's proposal outlines that the 2027 tournament run from June 24th through the end of July. Last summer’s World Cup began at the end of July and concluded on August 19th.

Another notable element of Brazil's newly unveiled plan to grow of the women’s game is that "all [men’s] clubs wishing to take part in high-level national and continental competitions must now provide a structure for a women’s team." While the definition of "structure" was not specifically identified, the country has set targets with CONMEBOL to help increase the number of women’s club teams in the country.

In last week's inspection findings, FIFA noted that selecting Brazil as the next WWC host could "have a tremendous impact on women's football in the region."

Chelsea did what they needed to do on Wednesday in order to make Saturday's slate of season-ending WSL fixtures interesting: Beat Tottenham.

The Blues are now number one in the league, with an edge over Manchester City on goal differential thanks to an eight-goal outing against Bristol City last week. 

Yesterday's result tees up a league finale for the books as Chelsea looks to send coach Emma Hayes off with another trophy to add to her cabinet. The Blues will play FA Cup winner Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday, while City is away at Aston Villa.

"We will be leaving nothing on the pitch, we will be giving everything and no matter what the result is," Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said after Wednesday's win. "At least we can look each other in the eye and say we gave everything."

It makes for a thrilling end to Chelsea's Emma Hayes era, as the decorated WSL coach will take over the USWNT in June. And it comes after Hayes all but conceded the title race early this month after Chelsea fell to Liverpool 4-3.

"I think the title is done," Hayes said at the time. "Of course, mathematically, it's not, but I think the title is done. Our job between now and the end of the season is to keep pushing until the end, but I think it will be very difficult.

"We will never give up. But the title is far from us; it's not in our hands. I think City are deserving, their consistency has put them in that position. Of course, we will go to the end, but I don't think the title will be going to us this year."

Be it mind games or Hayes truly thinking her team was that far off, her words lit something in Chelsea. Their following two performances showed the team’s determination to have a shot at some silverware.

As for Saturday's schedule, Hayes believes her team is facing the "tougher of the two games."

"It's a fitting finale for me, being my final game," she told BBC Sport. "As I said to the players if someone gives you a second chance in life, make sure you don't need a third one. We're in the position we want to be in, and we'll give it everything on Saturday no matter what."