Daily Briefing — Feb. 19, 2022: Chicago contracts, chalk in the Pac-12

W Roundup

Free agency

• Sue Bird: Her one-year deal with the Seattle Storm is for the veteran minimum, per our Howard Megdal. With the Storm sitting with roughly an extra $13,000 in cap space (assuming the current 11 players under contract become their opening-day roster), perhaps the front office saved that money for some contingency plan or to leave flexibility at the trade deadline.
• Liz Cambage: Her one-year deal with the Los Angeles Sparks is for $170,000, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. After the Sparks cut salary in training camp, they should be about $14,000 under the cap — meaning Cambage’s sub-maximum salary probably isn’t out of benevolence towards the team’s cap situation.
• Kahleah Copper: Her two-year deal with Chicago carries an average annual value (AAV) of $202,500, per Her Hoop Stats’ Richard Cohen.
• Emma Meesseman: Her deal with Chicago is a 1-year, $185,000 contract, per our Sky reporter, James Kay. Unless point guard Dana Evans and wing Crystal Bradford are both cut and replaced with third-round picks, one of still-unsigned restricted free agent combo guard Lexie Brown and rookie-deal big Ruthy Hebard can’t make the opening-day roster. Given the team’s appreciation for Hebard, the fact that its three lower-minimum deals have been for backcourt players and the Julie Allemand acquisition, it’s likely that Brown is the cap casualty.

Visit our offseason trackers page to see all the other free agent moves, how they affect team’s caps and more — in neat, colorful fashion!

Watch List, Saturday, Feb. 19

(All times in Eastern)

Must-watch

#22 Iowa @ #5 Indiana, 4 p.m., BTN+

#15 Oklahoma @ #6 Iowa State, 7 p.m., ESPN+

Good games

Dayton @ Fordham, 2 p.m., ESPN+

Yale @ Princeton, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Also watchable

None

Friday, Feb. 18 recap

#2 Stanford: 87-63 win over Oregon State. Out-shot the Beavers by 11.8 percentage points; won the rebounding battle by eight; the teams combined for 35 fouls. Wing Lexie Hull led with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting (2-4 3pt.) and four rebounds without a turnover against four fouls in 28 minutes; point wing Haley Jones notched a double-double with 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field (1-2 3pt.) and 2-for-6 from the line and 10 rebounds, plus three assists against three turnovers; bench off-ball guard Hannah Jump scored 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from three (1-2 from two); backup center Fran Belibi had seven points on 3-for-5 FG, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals without a turnover.

#8 Arizona: 51-42 win over Washington. Won the first half… 16-7. Yuck. The teams combined to shoot 36.6% from the line and 64.3% from the line; the Wildcats forced 22 turnovers and drew 16 fouls. Point guard Shaina Pellington led with 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field (0-1 3pt.) and 4-for-6 from the line with two assists.

#10 UConn: 89-35 win over Xavier. Went on a 37-0 run — yeah, thirty-seven-to-zero run — from the mid-second quarter through the late third. Shot 63.0% from the field and 47.6% from the line while allowing 24.0% shooting; assisted on 26 of its 34 buckets; notched 13 steals, part of 23 forced turnovers. Combo guard Christyn Williams led with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting (1-4 3pt.), five assists, four steals and two blocks against three turnovers; off-ball guard Caroline Ducharme played her first game after missing the previous five, tallying 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field (2-5 3pt.), four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 14 minutes; big Aaliyah Edwards committed four fouls in 25 minutes, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-5 FG, seven rebounds (three offensive) and two assists without a turnover. Ten players played, all notching at least six minutes, including Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Amari DeBerry.

RV* Oregon: 52-47 win over Cal. Trailed in the late third quarter. Shot only 35.1% overall and missed all 16 of its threes; held the Bears to 28.8% shooting from the field and 15.8% from three; the teams combined for 35 turnovers and 33 fouls. Backup center Sedona Prince led with 15 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 from the line, eight rebounds (three offensive), two assists and three blocks against two turnovers and four fouls in 26 minutes; point guard Endyia Rogers had 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting (0-2 3pt.), three rebounds and two steals against three turnovers; big Nyara Sabally, wing Maddie Scherr and off-ball guard Sydney Parrish combined for five points on 1-for-18 FG (0-8 3pt.).

RV Princeton: 88-42 win over Brown. Won the third quarter 32-6. Shot 58.8% from three while holding the Bears to 1-for-15 shooting from deep; were a +14 in rebounding margin; notched 21 steals, part of 31 forced turnovers. Wing Abby Meyers led with 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting (3-5 3pt.), three rebounds, four assists and four steals against two turnovers in 25 minutes; combo guard Julia Cunningham notched a double-double with 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field (3-5 3pt.) and 10 rebounds, plus three assists, four steals and two blocks against two turnovers.

Cancellations

• None

*Receiving Votes