CHICAGO — When Chicago Sky forward Elizabeth Williams returned in February to her offseason club, CBK Mersin, she was met with devastation.
Williams was in the process of moving from Washington to Chicago when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the border between Turkey and Syria, where millions of displaced Syrian refugees had fled from one calamity to another.
The disaster elicited an immediate flood of concerned calls and messages from friends and family worried for Williams’ safety. Updates from teammates in Turkey quickly followed with more stark news: The death toll included Turkish basketball player Nilay Aydoğan, who played for Çankaya Üniversitesi.