Sara Scalia WNBA Player Comparison

After leading Indiana to an impressive home victory over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, you would start to think that WNBA scouts would finally take the hint on Sara Scalia’s legitimacy. Scalia’s name might not be talked about much in terms of WNBA draft buzz, but that does not mean she cannot become a quality WNBA player. Actually, there is an active WNBA player whose footsteps the Hoosier could feasibly follow in.

Sami Whitcomb of the Seattle Storm, who entered the WNBA as an unheralded 29-year-old rookie from Australia back in 2017, fits the same prototype of player that Scalia is. First and foremost, she is a bonafide marksman from beyond the arc. If you leave her open for even a fraction of a second she is not going to hesitate to let it fly. And her career 37.2% success rate from 3 and runner-up finish in the 2023 Starry WNBA 3-PT Contest serve as clear evidence that giving her space is going to give you problems.

Aside from her shooting, she is a gritty 5’10” guard who is not afraid to go make a play or pick up the opposition’s best perimeter scoring threat. We all know about Sara Scalia’s shooting, but her secondary playmaking (2.6 APG in 2023-2024 compared to 1.6 a season ago) has been a subtle area of growth. In the win over Iowa, we saw her take on the challenge of defending Caitlin Clark whenever Chloe Moore-McNeil was not shadowing her. And honestly, despite not being renowned as a lockdown defender Scalia did an admirable job. It took Clark 26 shots to get her 24 points on the evening, and the Hoosiers were incredible collectively in keeping her in check. Individually, Scalia has shown a tendency of toughness on the defensive side of the ball and a willingness to roll her sleeves up in that department.