Chicago Sky select Ajša Sivka and Hailey Van Lith in
The Chicago Sky can’t think
their luck. For the first hour of Monday’s WNBA draft, basic supervisor Jeff Pagliocca and Tyler Marsh saw 2 of their leading targets topple further down the offered board than they ever expected.
When the Sky finally stepped onto the clock with the No. 10 and No. 11 picks, the duo felt great in their back-to-back selections: Ajša Sivka, a 6-foot-4 forward from Slovenia, and Hailey Van Lith, a 5-9 point player from TCU.
After the draft, Pagliocca didn’t hide his enjoyment that both players were still available.
“We were surprised that Sivka was there and we were surprised Hailey existed,” Pagliocca said. “We’re sitting in a truly good place today.”
The No. 10 pick made a rather soft response from fans put together for a watch celebration at the Revolution Brewing taproom in Avondale. It wasn’t a surprise– the 19-year-old opted not to compete in the NCAA before declaring for the WNBA draft.
But Sivka provides an unusual ability at her height as a confident boundary shooter who also can create her own shots off the dribble. In 2023, she led the Slovenian U18 group to a FIBA Women’s European Championship title, balancing 15.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 takes as the competition’s MVP.
“She’s had the ability to have a lot of success at playing against grown women,” Pagliocca stated. “It offers us a little bit of a plan when you can manage yourself there. Envision that woman 2, three, 4 years from now, how special she may be. At that size– even looking throughout our league– as far as her mobility and her capability to shoot the ball and shoot as quickly as she does, there’s just not a great deal of them. So it was just too difficult to miss.”
Ajša Sivka presents before the WNBA draft Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York.( AP Photo/Pamela Smith)Fans at the watch celebration were far more vocal minutes later on when the Sky utilized the No. 11 pick to pick Van Lith, a star guard at Louisville, LSU and TCU. Van Lith increased on draft boards after a redemptive fifth college season at TCU, leading the Horned Frogs to the Elite 8 while balancing 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds. After making a strong impression in 3 seasons at Louisville, Van Lith had a hard time to get used to a brand-new role and system in 2023-24 at LSU, shooting 37.8% from the field and seeing her scoring average drop from 19.7 in her third year at Louisville to 11.6 points per game.
Van Lith will reunite with former teammate Angel Reese in Chicago, a possibility that delighted both players.
“We ain’t do it right the very first time,” Reese composed on social networks. “Let’s run it backkkkk.”
This might have been the very best fit in the whole draft for Van Lith. In Chicago, she will have the chance to develop behind veteran guards Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins as an anchor guard in the secondary system. And the front office thinks Van Lith is a natural fit for the hard ethos the Sky are wishing to establish in Chicago.
“She has a winning mindset,” Marsh said. “She’s got a toughness about her. There’s no complacency there in terms of what her enhancement and potential can be. That becomes part of the culture that we wish to develop here in Chicago. There’s a lot to like about where she is now as a player and a great deal to like about where she can be moving on.”
TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, right, poses for a picture with WNBA Comissioner Cathy Engelbert after being picked 11th by the Chicago Sky during the first round of the WNBA draft Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York.(AP Photo/Pamela Smith) The Sky included another forward-guard pairing in the second round, picking Notre Dame forward Maddy Westbeld at No. 16 and Texas A&M guard Aicha Coulibaly at No. 22. The 6-3 Westbeld is another stretch forward alternative like Sivka. She shot 34.9 %from 3-point range over her four-year career at Notre Dame. Although her senior season was lessened by a knee injury, Westbeld is a dependable option at the four who might add depth to the Sky frontcourt.
Coulibaly invested her very first three seasons at Auburn before transferring to Texas A&M for her last 2. While she isn’t a boundary hazard like the Sky’s other selections, her rebounding prowess– she averaged 5.7 for her profession as a 6-foot guard– jumps out as a late second-round choice.
The Sky have only two offered lineup spots entering the preseason, so the four new players could be battling throughout training school for a WNBA contract– although Coulibaly’s accessibility doubts after she suffered a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 26 versus LSU.
Notre Dame forward Maddy Westbeld is introduced before a Sweet 16 game versus TCU in the NCAA Competition on March 29, 2025, in Birmingham, Ala. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) The Dallas Wings drafted Connecticut star Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick, the Seattle Storm picked 6-6 French teen Dominique Malonga at No. 2 and the Washington Mystics chose Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron with the third choice, which they obtained from the Sky in February.
LSU forward Aneesah Morrow, the Chicago native and Simeon alumna who played her first two seasons at DePaul, went at No. 7 to the Connecticut Sun.
Originally Published: April 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM CDT