Who Is Dana Evans? Meet the Veteran Teammate of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso

The Chicago Sky has a formidable roster and can be seen as one of the contenders for this year’s WNBA championship. The optimum utilization of their draft choices in the form of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso brought some refreshing energy into their locker room. Yet, some other individuals can have a huge impact given their impressive resumes. Among the ones who have done it in the past is 25-year-old Dana Evans.

This talented shooting guard was one of the driving forces behind the championship run of the Dallas Wings in 2021. Can she do something similar for the Chicago Sky this time around? We’ll have to wait and see.

With an illustrious college career that saw her garner many accolades, Evans was a clear choice for the Wings. However, within one year, she switched to the Sky and brought their first-ever championship trophy home. But before that was her Louisville story, where she established herself as a worthy player to have in the professional league.

Dana Evans as a Cardinal

The 5-foot-6 guard led the Cardinals to some very successful tournaments during her time. The best was the one during her fourth season with Louisville, where she boosted the team straight to the Elite Eight, where they lost to No. 1 seed Stanford, who eventually won the championship that year. Evans had improved over the years at Louisville. However, her senior year saw the best of her. She led the team with a whopping 20.1 points and 3.9 assists.

Along with her offensive and playmaking abilities, her defensive front was also quite decent. She contributed 2.7 boards and brought in 1.3 steals for the Cardinals. She also grabbed several accolades over the years that further backed her as a great hooper. These included the 2021 First-team All-American (AP), USBWA, 2020 Second-team All-American (AP), USBWA, 2× WBCA All-American, 2× ACC Player of the Year, 2× First-team All-ACC, and ACC Sixth Player of the Year. Evans was also a part of the ACC All-Freshmen Team in her first season at Louisville.

The Cardinals won every regular-season title in the four years that Dana Evans played for them. They also snatched the ACC conference trophy in her freshman year. With her immaculate display of skills, she became the 13th overall pick in the 2021 WNBA draft.

Dallas gives Dana Evans some wings for the WNBA

The Dallas Wings, who were coming in with a rather bad experience, chose Dana Evans as their first pick in the second round. However, she only played six games for the team and got an average of four minutes on the floor as a rookie. Due to her slump show of 0.8 points and 0.5 assists for the Wings, Dallas soon traded her to the Chicago Sky. She continued her rookie year in Chicago in June 2021 and had an incredibly good performance.

Improving her game as part of the Chi-Town team, Evans built her numbers. Although her first season with the Sky only saw her play 8.6 minutes on average, she grabbed a decent 3.9 points and dished out 1.2 assists per game. The inspired guard ended her first season in the professional leagues with the WNBA All-Rookie Team. Moreover, Chicago won the WNBA championship that year.

But they could not repeat the history over the following year, losing in the semifinals of the 2022 season. In 2023, they lost in the first round at the hands of the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces. Despite the black clouds hovering over Chicago, Evans was able to improve her performance even further. In the year 2023, she added 9 points and 3 assists to her bank in 21.5 minutes on average. Currently, she is the sixth-top scorer in the team and second in the assist/TO ratio at 1.9 on average.

However, the Sky is now set to see some clearer times as they add SEC queen Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso to their 2024 roster.

How will the fate of the Sky change with Reese and Cardoso?

Surely, players like Dana Evans have added a little depth to the team. Nevertheless, with some strong contenders standing in line to be a part of the starters in Chicago, they have a fighting chance to go ahead. Both Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese are immaculate performers on either end of the court. The 2024 NCAA champion can be a great help in the paint for Chi with her height and build. She is also incredible when it comes to scoring on the frontcourt and has recently found peace with beyond-the-arc shots as well.

Angel Reese, on the other hand, has a dominant aura. She was the rebounding queen in college. But apart from her defensive skills and trash-talking that can break any opponent, she is also a stellar scorer. Teresa Weatherspoon and the fans can expect the two ladies to lead the team in both aspects. Moreover, they will bring in a combined 29.2 points per game. They will also add 20.2 boards to the total as per their average college career stats.

However, to get these results, Chicago will also need to give them the same time on the floor as LSU and the Gamecocks did. Nonetheless, they will surely add a lot of strength and depth to the roster. Combined with the talents of vets like Kahleah Cooper and Dana Evans, the Sky has every chance to soar this season.