Watching Sage handle the ball is a treat. She plays with the ball on a string, changing pace and direction while keeping defenders from getting a hand on it. Her court vision matches her handle, as she threads passes through traffic and finds windows that aren’t always easy to see. She also delivers one of the better hit-ahead passes you’ll see, recognizing the break early and putting the ball right where her teammate needs it.

QUICK — that’s the word that best describes Sage and what she does with the basketball. The ball is often out of her hands and on its way to the next play before defenders even realize what’s happened. She processes the floor at a different speed, keeping defenses constantly reacting.

Her signature move may be the behind-the-back dime to a cutter or post player while attacking the rim, but that’s only part of her playmaking package. She can thread passes through traffic, fire skip passes to the perimeter, deliver touch passes in transition, and find angles that most players don’t even see.

What makes Sage special as a facilitator is her unpredictability. Defenders never know where the next pass will come from or where it’s headed, making her one of the toughest players to game-plan for when she has the ball in her hands.

Sage was hands down the most impressive player on the floor late Friday night. Anyone who still thinks she’s just a flashy “behind-the-back pass” player hasn’t seen her lately — she was breaking ankles with dribble switches and firing pinpoint baseball passes cross-court to cutters in stride. Her speed and court vision are next-level, and with the confidence she’s playing with right now, she’s only going to keep climbing and turning heads this season.