CHICAGO — There has been a lot of change for the team over the last year and even the last few months, but one thing remains the same for Chicago’s WNBA team.

They’re entering the last month of the season with a shot to reach the postseason, something that’s become an annual tradition of late for the team.

So where do the Sky stand with just 12 games to go in the regular season?

Coming into their game against the New York Liberty at 6 p.m. central time at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the team is currently hanging on to the eighth and final spot in the playoff standings with a 12-16 record.

That puts them 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks, who are the next team below them in the standings hoping to get into the postseason. Thanks to a tightly-packed middle of the WNBA standings, the Sky are just a game behind the Mystics and Lynx for the next two spots in the playoff order.

The fourth and fifth seeds, the Wings and Dream, and just 2 1/2 games ahead of the Sky.

Should they qualify for the postseason, it would be their fifth-consecutive season doing so, having advanced at least one round in three of the previous four seasons. In 2021, the Sky captured their first-ever WNBA championship.

Having lost a number of key pieces to that team this offseason, it’s been an up-and-down campaign for the team as All-Star Kaleah Copper has been surrounded by a new core. Then came a stunning move midseason when head coach and general manager James Wade left immediately to take an assistant coaching job with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.

Emre Vatansever has been leading the team as interim head coach since July 2.

Led by Copper (19.4 points per game), the Sky have a steady veteran contribution from guard Courtney Williams, who is averaging ten points and a team-high 6.2 assists per contest. Marina Mabrey, who was acquired in a major offseason deal with the Wings, is putting up 15.1 points per contest with 3.7 assists per contest.

The Sky had won three-straight games until their home loss to the Lynx on Tuesday evening. After the contest against the Liberty on Friday, the team heads to Washington to face the Mystics on Sunday at 2 p.m. central time.