“Proud of you, ROOK,” Angel Reese posted on IG after Hailey Van Lith’s latest breakout performance, and those words meant more than just praise. Van Lith entered Sunday’s game playing a mere 11.9 minutes per contest. Before Vandersloot’s injury, her lone extended run, 26 minutes against the Fever, ended in 7 points on 2/5 from the field, with 3 turnovers and little impact. This context shows her rise on Sunday in a different light, not just unexpected, but earned.

On Sunday, in Connecticut, Van Lith looked different. Attacking with confidence off the catch, moving without the ball, hitting 6-of-8 shots for a career-high 16 points in 24 minutes. This shift wasn’t accidental, though; it reflected Coach Tyler Marsh’s tactics, moving her into triple-threat opportunities instead of overloading her on live dribbles. As HVL said, “They’re trying to get me more opportunities off the triple threat catch instead of always having a live dribble and trying to mix it up where it’s like 50-50 instead of 90-10.” 

And it mattered, because at 5-foot-9, Van Lith is one of the smallest guards in the league. She’s faced relentless defensive pressure since her very first game on May 7 against the Minnesota Lynx. The Sky won that night, but Marsh saw how steep the learning curve would be for HVL. “It’s tough,” he said then. “It’s a first real look at W action, and those are certified WNBA guards. That’s the kind of pressure that she’s going to feel night in, night out.”

Now, more than a month later, Marsh and his staff are shifting the geometry. Rather than forcing Van Lith to create from live dribbles, they’ve allowed her to play out of her strengths – attacking from the triple-threat, moving in flow, and sharing ball-handling duties with teammates like Ariel Atkins. “So really, we’re just trying, me and Ariel or whatever that other guard tandem may be, we’re just playing naturally to mix up who’s bringing the ball up on a live dribble  and who gets to play out of the triple threat,”  the rookie further explained. 

The result? A more fluid, instinctive version of Van Lith and a Sky team that suddenly looked connected against the Connecticut Sun. It freed her to play closer to instinct, closer to flow.

Hailey Van Lith’s trial by fire as she looks up to Reese

When Courtney Vandersloot went down just five minutes into that game against Indiana, Hailey Van Lith was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. The rookie guard, still finding her footing in the league, was forced into extended duty, logging a career-high 26 minutes. The pressure showed: she finished with just 7 points, 2 boards, three turnovers, and struggled to even bring the ball up the floor against Indiana’s defense.

“It’s heartbreaking to watch anybody, but especially one of your teammates and someone who means so much to us as Sloot does,” Van Lith said afterward regarding Sloot’s departure. “Whatever’s in store for the future of this team, we’ll make this moment mean something in the end.”

Since then, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh has had to reimagine the offense. “With Sloot being out, we’ve become a little less ball screen-oriented and more about playing through our postings,” Marsh explained. In short: more spacing, more versatility, and more players sharing the load. And against Connecticut, it seemed to be coming together.

Also, when Hailey looked up at the scoreboard in that game, she found Reese in mid-season form: facilitating with vision, lighting the court up, and finishing with her first WNBA triple-double—11 assists, 11 points, 13 rebounds. Van Lith called it out straight: “Angel was facilitating and found everybody. I made a lot of open shots, that was my job tonight.”

And Angel Reese sure made history with her first triple-double, but Van Lith quietly had her breakout moment, too. It wasn’t just the numbers; it was how she played. “We got a lot of energy from Hailey,” Marsh said. “Our spacing allowed her to get downhill and create for herself and others.”

That’s what made the scenes of the end of the game matter. Not solo heroics. It was chemistry. And a reminder: under Marsh’s system, everyone gets their moment. Sunday? Van Lith’s, with Reese tipping the scales. The Sky will return to action against the Washington Mystics, hoping this version of Van Lith is here to stay. The rookie might not be leading the offense yet, but she’s learning how to belong in it.