Down to only nine healthy players, coach James Wade had no other option but to bring in an outside reinforcement.
With first-round pick Katie Lou Samuelson, center Astou Ndour and guard Jamierra Faulkner out for the foreseeable future, the WNBA granted the Sky an emergency hardship exception earlier this week. As a result, they brought in a familiar face Thursday, signing forward Victoria Macaulay.
The Sky initial received the exception after Tuesday’s win over the Mercury when Wade confirmed Samuelson suffered a small fracture in her wrist. Though she won’t need surgery, she’ll be out for at least three weeks. Samuelson’s injury came at a time when the Sky were already without Ndour, who is training with Spain’s national team for EuroBasket Tournament this month, and Faulkner, who is recovering from a torn ACL.
Macaulay seemed like the obvious choice for the Sky to bring back. The 6-foot-4, 165-pound forward impressed Wade and his coaching staff at training camp. In her last preseason game May 16, Macaulay made a statement, scoring 12 points and recording two rebounds.
Due to roster constraints, the Sky couldn’t keep Macaulay, who has only played in four WNBA games since she went undrafted out of Temple in 2013. They released her before the season began.
“The coaches and I talked about it. If we had a roster of 13 or 14, she would’ve made this roster,” Wade told the Sun-Times. “Her being someone that was familiar with this system and she had a last good preseason game, we kept her in our memory in case we needed another player.”
Macaulay, who was at Thursday’s practice at Sachs Recreation Center in Deerfield, is expected to play Saturday against the Fever.
