WNBA Best Hailey Van Lith Prop Bet for May 22: Is She Going to Play?
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Jason Lake
- May 22, 2025
WNBA Pick: Vandersloot Under 7.5 Points (-105) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Only in the WNBA could this happen. The Chicago Sky have brewed up some controversy regarding back-up guard Hailey Van Lith, the No. 11 overall pick in this year’s draft; after playing just four minutes of garbage time in Chicago’s 93-58 season-opening loss to the Indiana Fever (-8 at home), Van Lith’s image was used on social media to advertise Thursday’s home opener against the defending champion New York Liberty.
The online backlash has been considerable. But will it translate to more minutes for Van Lith? Perhaps, although those minutes were probably going up at some point, regardless. Let’s see if we can take advantage with our latest batch of WNBA picks and hammer those Hailey Van Lith props while they’re still vulnerable.
Game Info
- New York Liberty vs. Chicago Sky
- Thursday, May 22, 2025 – 8:00 PM EDT at Wintrust Arena
What’s Wrong With Hailey Van Lith?
She’s got a bad ankle. Or at least she did heading into last Saturday’s opener. Van Lith was originally listed as questionable, then was upgraded to probable before eventually making her brief WNBA debut.
It’s a very small sample size, but Van Lith performed well in her four minutes, scoring four points on 2-of-2 shooting – albeit with zero assists and one turnover. It seems head coach Tyler Marsh was more interested in protecting Van Lith for her debut, rather than feeding her directly to Indiana point guard Caitlin Clark. If that’s indeed the case, perhaps we’ll see a bit more of Van Lith this Thursday.
The Sky did stress during the offseason that Van Lith, coming off her Big 12 Player of the Year campaign with the TCU Horned Frogs (her fifth NCAA season, including 2023-24 at LSU alongside current teammate Angel Reese), would spend this year learning under Courtney Vandersloot, who returns to Chicago after two seasons with the Liberty.
However, Vandersloot was also limited to four points against the Fever, shooting 2-for-9 while finishing with a team-worst minus-25. This is part of the reason fans are clamoring for Van Lith to get more burn this Thursday; Van Lith’s social media presence, and her upcoming appearance in the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, play a much larger role.
Will Van Lith Play Against New York?
All signs point to “yes” – but how many minutes? We’re guessing more than four, but it’s way too early for Van Lith to be replacing Vandersloot in the starting lineup. Van Lith also has to compete with starting 2-guard Ariel Atkins (11 points versus Indiana on 3-of-6 shooting) and back-up Rachel Banham (eight points in 19:03) for floor time.
And yet… ESPN projected Van Lith and Banham to start for the Sky this year, with Vandersloot and Atkins coming off the bench. Scouts are in love with Van Lith’s scoring and playmaking; on the other hand, her defense at 5-foot-9 is a question mark, so maybe coming in as a “microwave” sixth-woman is indeed Van Lith’s best role for Chicago.
Either way, we’re reasonably confident here at the ranch that the Sky knew what they were doing when they used Van Lith’s image to promote Thursday’s contest. We expect Van Lith to get something closer to the 17-19 minutes Chicago’s other bench players saw against the Fever – maybe not all those minutes, but enough to satiate the home crowd somewhat.
The Pick
New York remains arguably the best team in the WNBA, so it’s not the ideal opponent for hammering the Over with those Hailey Van Lith prop bets – and if it weren’t for Thursday’s unusual circumstances, we might recommend the Under instead.
But let’s see if we can take advantage of those lowered expectations for Van Lith by skirting the more popular Total Points prop and taking the Over for her assists once those WNBA odds hit the board. If the oddsmakers decide Van Lith isn’t relevant enough for this matchup – or even if they do – Under 7.5 for Vandersloot’s Total Points is available at -105. Bet accordingly.
WNBA Pick: Vandersloot Under 7.5 Points (-105) at Bovada
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
