The Chicago Sky added backcourt depth on Tuesday, signing guard Saylor Poffenbarger to a hardship contract ahead of Wednesday’s matchup against the Toronto Tempo.
That came in the wake of injuries to several key players, including Rickea Jackson, who is out for the season with an ACL tear, and Gabriella Jaquez, who will miss Wednesday’s game with a knee injury. A WNBA hardship contract is a temporary roster exception that allows a team to sign an additional player when it does not have enough healthy players available.
As a result, Poffenbarger, who went undrafted in the 2026 WNBA Draft, will get another chance to make a regular-season roster.
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The 6’2 guard signed a training camp contract with the Minnesota Lynx shortly after the draft, and averaged 5.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block per game during preseason play. In her preseason debut with the Lynx, she posted 9 points and 13 rebounds.
Saylor Poffenbarger was a standout college player
Poffenbarger spent the past two seasons at the University of Maryland, where she became one of the most versatile players in the Big Ten Conference. Last season, she averaged 9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks while starting all 31 games and leading the Terrapins to the NCAA Tournament.
One of the best performances of her college career came in a double-overtime victory over Minnesota in December, when she erupted for a career-high 30 points while adding 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block.
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Poffenbarger began her collegiate career at the University of Connecticut before transferring to the University of Arkansas. During her two years with the Razorbacks, she emerged as one of the SEC’s top young players. As a redshirt freshman in 2022-23, she earned five SEC Freshman of the Week honors and was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.
Now, after a strong preseason with the Lynx and years of collegiate development across three major collegiate programs, Poffenbarger will get her next chance at the WNBA level with Chicago. She’ll be available when the Sky face the Tempo on Wednesday night.
