The WNBA will have four nationally-televised preseason games this year, including Angel Reese's return to LSU on Friday, the league announced on Monday.
The Sky will suit up against the Brazilian National Team at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the home of the LSU Tigers men's and women's basketball teams, on Friday. It would be the home of Chicago forward Angel Reese for two seasons, where she won a national championship with the team in 2023. Newly-drafted guard Hailey Van Lith, who joined the Sky after a highlight year with TCU, played alongside Reese at the long-time LSU stadium for one season.
The Sky announced they would be facing the Brazilian National Team in late January. It will be the first time Chicago center Kamilla Cardoso will face the team after competing for them in several international championships, according to a Sky release. Cardoso won gold medals in the 2022 FIBA South American Championship and in the 2023 FIBA AmeriCup in Mexico. The Brazilian squad will take their talents to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the former home of Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark, a few days later.
“I am so excited to play against my former Brazilian national team,” Cardoso said in a January release. “Brazil has played such an important role in my life and has shaped the person I am today. Playing for the Sky against my former team gives me a wonderful opportunity to connect with my roots and play in front of old friends and teammates back home.”
Games between the Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics will round out the league's national preseason schedule.
Chicago revealed they would have a total of 22 nationally-televised games across a number of channels last month. It would only add to the viewership potential of the Sky after they broke the WNBA's viewership record for two straight weekends last season. They may have more of a reason to be must-see TV following the additions of key veterans in Ariel Atkins and Courtney Vandersloot, who could be locks for starting spots after earning a total of seven All-Star selections between them. The Sky will also have the reunited duo of Reese and Van Lith to look forward to as they start their 2025 campaign.
The Sky will tip off against the Brazilian National Team at 9 p.m. EDT on Friday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will be broadcast on ION.