Chicago Sky reeling after Courtney Vandersloot's injury, while Indiana Fever pick up another win without Caitlin Clark

Yahoo

5 hours ago

CHICAGO — Not much went to plan for the Chicago Sky on Saturday night. They lost 79-52 to the shorthanded Indiana Fever. Even worse, veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot went down with an ugly knee injury in the first quarter. Now, the Sky are left wondering what will happen if they are left without the player they call 'The General.'
It was also the 20-year-old Sky franchise's first game ever at the United Center, home of three of the six Chicago Bulls championships and three Stanley Cup wins for the Chicago Blackhawks. While plenty of WNBA games are now played at NBA arenas, the Sky play at the smaller Wintrust Arena, five miles southeast.
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But instead of the night being a victory lap for the growth of the WNBA, the Sky looked shellshocked as Vandersloot was carried off the court by the team's staff. The Sky confirmed it was a knee injury but didn't have an update beyond that.
'It's heartbreaking to watch anybody, but especially one of your teammates, and someone that means as much as Sloot does to our team and his organization,' said Hailey Van Lith, the Sky's rookie guard who has been learning from Vandersloot in practice. 'Right now we're giving her a lot of energy, praying for her. Whatever is in store in the future for this team, I trust that we will find a way to make this moment mean something in the end."
Vandersloot's importance to Sky can't be overstated. She was drafted third overall by the Sky in 2011 and helped lead the team to a title in 2021. Just last week, she became the team's all-time scoring leader.
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She left for two seasons to go win a title with the New York Liberty, but this season, she returned to the city where she had laid down roots. Vandersloot met her wife, former WNBA player Allie Quigley, when they played together for the Sky. They bought a house near the Sky's practice facility. In early May, they announced the birth of their daughter, Jana.
On a team with young stars like Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Van Lith, Vandersloot's experience was needed, especially under a new coach looking to turn things around after the team won just 13 games last season. In her first stint with the Sky, Vandersloot was nicknamed 'The General' by her teammates, and the name fits her no-nonsense persona. Now, if she is out for some time, other Sky veterans will have to step up.
'It's a moment where everyone needs to step up, especially with someone like Sloot going out," said Rebecca Allen, who's been in the league nearly a decade. "We want every individual to step up and do more and give more. And I felt today we didn't do that for her, we didn't do that for each other. So there's an element of disappointment."
The WNBA's big night got its first damper on May 26 when the Fever announced that Caitlin Clark, the superstar behind the Fever's spike in popularity, had suffered a quad injury. It's possible she'll return to action next week, but still, fans showed up to the United Center wearing their Caitlin Clark gear, including her Iowa and Dowling Catholic jerseys.
They lined up at the tunnels of the United Center and Clark obliged, giving autographs before the game started. One young girl clad in Iowa gear from head to toe beamed as she held up a basketball with Clark's signature.
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The attendance was announced at 19,496, not too far under the United Center's capacity for basketball of 20,000. Though there were plenty of open seats scattered around the building, the crowd was still loud and buzzing for the game.
What they saw was a Sky team that looked lost on the court even before Vandersloot's injury. The Fever scored 23 points off the Sky's 19 turnovers. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana's scorers with 17 points. Chicago shot 32 percent from the field, with Allen and Cardoso tying for a team-leading 8 points each as the Sky narrowly avoided a franchise-low in points scored in a game.
'I just felt that they out toughed us," Allen said. "They played a tougher style, that we were put on the back of our heels to an extent, and we didn't do it back. We didn't punch back. I think that's something that we want to never feel again.
The Sky were already reeling before the Vandersloot injury, with a record of 2-8. Both wins came against the one-win Dallas Wings. The road won't get easier, as the Sky now head on a three-game road trip to New York, Atlanta and Connecticut as they wait to find out when they will see their general on the court again.