Latest news with #Vandersloot
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sky retire Allie Quigley's No. 14 jersey, putting a bow on a stellar career with her hometown team
CHICAGO — Allie Quigley knows a thing or two about firsts. Her decade-long career with the Chicago Sky can be told through first-time accolades. The first Sky player to be named Sixth Woman of the Year. The first player — WNBA or NBA — to win four All-Star 3-point contests. Most importantly, captain of the roster for the first WNBA title in franchise history in 2021. Advertisement And so it was no surprise, among all of the firsts, that Quigley was the player reserved to set one final team precedent. The Sky retired Quigley's No. 14 jersey Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena, recognizing the guard's impact on the franchise as a three-time All-Star and WNBA champion. She is the first Sky player to have her number retired, a reflection of the deep impression made on her hometown team from 2013-22. A native of Joliet, Quigley played the majority of her basketball in Chicagoland — first with Joliet Catholic, then with DePaul and finally with the Sky. Although she never has been one to embrace the spotlight, Wednesday's game offered Chicago an opportunity to fully celebrate Quigley's legacy. Pregame, every seat in the arena was decorated with a towel displaying Quigley's jersey. Breaks in the game were punctuated by tribute videos. And the No. 14 dotted the crowd — on jerseys, on shirts, on posters held aloft by fans. Advertisement Quigley selected two people to speak during the halftime ceremony: Sky owner Michael Alter and wife Courtney Vandersloot. Propped up on one crutch while recovering from a season-ending ACL injury, Vandersloot fought back tears while delivering a speech about how she would recount stories of Quigley's career to their daughter, Jana, who was born in April. 'My life's mission that Jana will not only know how great of a shooter her mom is — the purest and best-looking jumper the game has ever seen — but also how strong her float game is, how sneaky her handle is, and even though she was the sweetest person on the floor, she had a little nasty to her,' Vandersloot said. 'I will make sure she understands her mom's loyalty, commitment and absolute team-player mentality is what every franchise dreams of when choosing their players.' Quigley spent as much of her speech talking about her wife as she did about her own career, hyping up the crowd to give out a signature 'Sloooooot' chant. But for a decade, that's how it worked — Quigley and Vandersloot and the Sky just went together. Quigley said she never took a free-agency meeting with another team. It was always the Sky. And long before Wednesday night, Quigley and the Sky had become synonymous with one another — a partnership that defined a career and a franchise. Advertisement 'I'll always remember bringing a championship to this city,' Quigley, 39, said. 'Talking about it will never get old. I still can't believe I grew up 40 miles from here and got to play for my hometown team.' Quigley joined the Sky in 2013 after struggling to find her footing in her first five years in the league. Chicago was always the right fit for the sharpshooter. She shot 39.4% from 3-point range over her career, hitting her peak in the championship run in 2021 with 45.4% efficiency. Quigley remains the franchise 3-point leader with 504. She retired as the team's all-time scoring leader with 3,723 points, although Vandersloot broke the record this season. Quigley is still tied to the Sky. Vandersloot returned to the franchise after two seasons with the New York Liberty. Although Vandersloot will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, she remains a crucial leader for a roster in transition. Advertisement The last two years have served as an elongated — and somewhat understated — goodbye to basketball for Quigley. In a column for The Players' Tribune published June 10, the former guard joked that she accidentally completed an 'Irish goodbye' when she opted not to announce her retirement in 2023 despite not signing a new WNBA contract. It took two more years for Quigley to make her departure official. DePaul in January inducted Quigley to its athletic Hall of Fame, celebrating the most successful women's basketball player in the university's history 20 years after she started her career with the Blue Demons. Quigley's 2,078 points at DePaul rank third on the program's all-time list. She led the Demons to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the Sweet 16 in 2006, and was a four-time all-conference selection. When the Sky retired Quigley's number Wednesday night, her WNBA jersey joined her DePaul jersey in the rafters at Wintrust Arena — a final reminder of the legacy the shooter left upon women's basketball in Chicago.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
As Chicago Sky remember their glory days, will they do what it takes to return to WNBA relevance?
CHICAGO — Standing with her wife Courtney Vandersloot, surrounded by family and her college coach, Allie Quigley watched as a banner with her name and number was hoisted into the rafters of Wintrust Arena on Wednesday night. Quigley's 14 was the first number retired by the Chicago Sky in the organization's 20 years in the WNBA. Quigley played for the Sky for 10 seasons and was named an All-Star three times. She was known for her quick-fire shooting, especially from behind the arc, and won the WNBA 3-Point Contest three times. Most importantly, she helped the Sky win their first WNBA championship. Advertisement The Sky gave Quigley a memorable night, with videos from former Sky stars and coaches, a speed painter recreating a photo of Quigley celebrating the team's championship, and speeches from Vandersloot and Michael Alter, the team's owner. The team was also kind enough to pull out an 87-76 win over the Dallas Wings, with Rebecca Allen knocking down five 3-pointers. But in some ways, the jersey retirement for Quigley was a reminder that those championship days are well in the past. The only person from that team who is still on the Sky's roster is Vandersloot, who tore her ACL earlier in the season and won't play again this year. Allie Quigley was a key player on the Sky's 2021 championship team, but those glory days seemed far away on Wednesday night in Chicago. (Photo by) (Michael Reaves via Getty Images) Now, Angel Reese is the face of the team. This week, she was named to her second All-Star Game in as many seasons in the league, introduced her first signature shoe and was named the cover athlete for the NBA 2K26 WNBA Edition. She's been in a tear on the court, notching double-doubles in the last seven games, but that hasn't always translated into wins for the Sky. The team is 6-13, ranked 10th in the league, and is 4-6 in the last 10. Advertisement Tyler Marsh, the team's first-year head coach, said he sees signs of improvement daily with his young team. 'My perspective is always going to be a little bit different than from the outside, being the coach here, and seeing everything day to day, and the work that gets put in, and the progress you're able to see, the incremental progress that's there,' Marsh said before Wednesday's game. 'Sometimes as outsiders or as fans, you only see what you see, and you're judged off your wins and losses, and we understand that as part of the business that we're in, but for us there's a bigger picture to it. And sometimes, when you're trying to build something great, when you're trying to build something sustainable, you got to go through the mud first.' The Sky have been through plenty of mud. They've a hard time stringing wins together all season. After two seasons in New York and a 2024 championship, Vandersloot was brought back to the Sky in the offseason as a veteran presence for the young team. When she was injured in the Sky's loss to the Fever in early June, it took time for the Sky to regroup without their point guard. But there have been positive moments, too. Reese's play has shown improvement, even from her breakout rookie season. Kamilla Cardoso, the Sky's top pick last season, had breakout performances before she had to miss games to play for the Brazilian national team at AmeriCup. Advertisement But that doesn't mean the Sky look headed for the playoffs. What ails them goes well beyond the players on the team or even the coach. They've failed to attract big-name free agents outside of Vandersloot. Off the court, they've lost well-respected team employees to other organizations, and even moments like the team's 20th anniversary have felt half-done. The team announced there would be a special logo on the court for the anniversary, and it's yet to appear. But no problem has loomed larger than the Sky's lackluster facilities. Former players have not been shy speaking out about their problems playing for the team. The WNBA is not a large league, with just 156 players, so it's never been a secret that the Sky's facilities lag behind other teams. The team practices at Sachs Recreation Center, a park district facility in the northern suburbs of Chicago that's nearly 30 miles from the team's arena. Advertisement In 2021, Candace Parker returned to her hometown of Chicago to help the Sky win a title. But in 2023, she told Draymond Green on his podcast about how she's never had her own locker or facility where she could put up shots at night until she signed with the Aces, who built a state of the art facility for the team. Last season, when Gabby Williams was returning to the WNBA after helping France win a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Reese tried to recruit Williams back to the team that had drafted her. Williams responded on X, 'Orrrr we could just play together for a different organization.' The Minnesota Lynx's Courtney Williams, who played for the Sky in 2023, spoke candidly in a recent live stream about how the team's facilities didn't have private locker rooms, and how the rec center's location is a problem with Chicago's notoriously bad traffic. Players are housed near the facility, while the team's arena — which belongs to DePaul University — is just south of Chicago's Loop. She said the team would give them day rooms in hotels near the arena between shootaround and games, but they wouldn't pay for overnight accommodations. "If we're tired from a game and I'm exhausted and I want to do my recovery or even if I want to just go hang out in downtown Chicago, why don't you all have me a room, bro?" Williams said. "... and then if I want to hang out, I have to pay for my hotel room." Advertisement The Sky's ownership broke ground on a new facility in October 2024 in a partnership with another suburb, Bedford Park. The promise was that the Sky's players would be able to use the new facility in time for the 2026 season, but the Chicago Tribune reported the facility was running behind earlier this season. The team is still confident that the facility will be open in time for next season. While the Sky advertised the facility as state of the art, they didn't solve the location problem. Bedford Park, a small, industrial suburb near Midway Airport is still a 14-mile drive to the Sky's arena. While that's shorter than the current 27-mile commute from Sachs, anyone who has flown into Midway will understand that players will still have a considerable commute to Wintrust. Compare that to Minnesota, whose players practice across the street from the Target Center. Advertisement Elsewhere in Chicago, the MLS' Chicago Fire's ownership just announced a $650-million privately funded stadium on a vacant piece of land just 1.5 miles away from Wintrust, the Sky's home. MLS players are seeing the Fire's owners make an investment in not just the team, but the city. The teams that have played in the last two WNBA Finals, the Aces, Liberty and Lynx, are teams well-known for significant investments in their organization. New York recently announced plans for an $80-million, 75,000-square-foot practice facility in Brooklyn. It's clear the Sky need to invest more into the team if they want to raise more banners into the rafters. If the current ownership can't or won't make the same kind of investment, they need to sell. Otherwise, they will continue to spend time looking back on the 2021 season, raising banners for retired players instead of future championships.
Chicago Tribune
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sky retire Allie Quigley's No. 14 jersey, putting a bow on a stellar career with her hometown team
Allie Quigley knows a thing or two about firsts. Her decade-long career with the Chicago Sky can be told through first-time accolades. The first Sky player to be named Sixth Woman of the Year. The first player — WNBA or NBA — to win four All-Star 3-point contests. Most importantly, captain of the roster for the first WNBA title in franchise history in 2021. And so it was no surprise, among all of the firsts, that Quigley was the player reserved to set one final team precedent. The Sky retired Quigley's No. 14 jersey Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena, recognizing the guard's impact on the franchise as a three-time All-Star and WNBA champion. She is the first Sky player to have her number retired, a reflection of the deep impression made on her hometown team from 2013-22. A native of Joliet, Quigley played the majority of her basketball in Chicagoland — first with Joliet Catholic, then with DePaul and finally with the Sky. Although she never has been one to embrace the spotlight, Wednesday's game offered Chicago an opportunity to fully celebrate Quigley's legacy. Pregame, every seat in the arena was decorated with a towel displaying Quigley's jersey. Breaks in the game were punctuated by tribute videos. And the No. 14 dotted the crowd — on jerseys, on shirts, on posters held aloft by fans. Quigley selected two people to speak during the halftime ceremony: Sky owner Michael Alter and wife Courtney Vandersloot. Propped up on one crutch while recovering from a season-ending ACL injury, Vandersloot fought back tears while delivering a speech about how she would recount stories of Quigley's career to their daughter, Jana, who was born in April. 'My life's mission that Jana will not only know how great of a shooter her mom is — the purest and best-looking jumper the game has ever seen — but also how strong her float game is, how sneaky her handle is, and even though she was the sweetest person on the floor, she had a little nasty to her,' Vandersloot said. 'I will make sure she understands her mom's loyalty, commitment and absolute team-player mentality is what every franchise dreams of when choosing their players.' Quigley spent as much of her speech talking about her wife as she did about her own career, hyping up the crowd to give out a signature 'Sloooooot' chant. But for a decade, that's how it worked — Quigley and Vandersloot and the Sky just went together. Quigley said she never took a free-agency meeting with another team. It was always the Sky. And long before Wednesday night, Quigley and the Sky had become synonymous with one another — a partnership that defined a career and a franchise. 'I'll always remember bringing a championship to this city,' Quigley, 39, said. 'Talking about it will never get old. I still can't believe I grew up 40 miles from here and got to play for my hometown team.' Quigley joined the Sky in 2013 after struggling to find her footing in her first five years in the league. Chicago was always the right fit for the sharpshooter. She shot 39.4% from 3-point range over her career, hitting her peak in the championship run in 2021 with 45.4% efficiency. Quigley remains the franchise 3-point leader with 504. She retired as the team's all-time scoring leader with 3,723 points, although Vandersloot broke the record this season. Quigley is still tied to the Sky. Vandersloot returned to the franchise after two seasons with the New York Liberty. Although Vandersloot will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, she remains a crucial leader for a roster in transition. The last two years have served as an elongated — and somewhat understated — goodbye to basketball for Quigley. In a column for The Players' Tribune published June 10, the former guard joked that she accidentally completed an 'Irish goodbye' when she opted not to announce her retirement in 2023 despite not signing a new WNBA contract. It took two more years for Quigley to make her departure official. DePaul in January inducted Quigley to its athletic Hall of Fame, celebrating the most successful women's basketball player in the university's history 20 years after she started her career with the Blue Demons. Quigley's 2,078 points at DePaul rank third on the program's all-time list. She led the Demons to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including the Sweet 16 in 2006, and was a four-time all-conference selection. When the Sky retired Quigley's number Wednesday night, her WNBA jersey joined her DePaul jersey in the rafters at Wintrust Arena — a final reminder of the legacy the shooter left upon women's basketball in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Kamilla Cardoso scores a career-high 27 points as the Chicago Sky rallies past the Los Angeles Sparks 97-86
Kamilla Cardoso scored a career-high 27 points, Angel Reese had a double-double and the Chicago Sky beat the Los Angeles Sparks 97-86 on Tuesday at Wintrust Arena. Reese finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Ariel Atkins scored 13 points for the Sky (4-10). The Sky took its first lead, 74-72, at 7:23 of the fourth quarter on a driving layup by Cardoso and outscored the Sparks 30-17 in the final period. Azura Stevens scored 21 points and Kelsey Plum added 20 for the Sparks (4-11), who lost their fourth straight. Dearica Hamby had 15 points and Rickea Jackson 11. Cardoso followed her tiebreaking basket with a short jumper, and moments later added a free throw to make it 77-72, and the Sky's lead increased from there. Cardoso will miss the next four games playing for her Brazilian national team at a tournament in Chile. The Sparks took control early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in less than 90 seconds and had a 27-17 advantage after one quarter. The Sky cut the deficit to 31-28 early in the second quarter before the Sparks surged again, going up 44-32. The Sky rallied again, getting within 48-42 at halftime. In the closing minutes of the third quarter, Rebecca Allen hit a 3-pointer and a runner, tying the score at 65 and 67, but the Sky never led. Plum's basket in the last minute of the third gave the Sparks a 69-67 lead heading into the fourth. Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, the team announced on Tuesday. Vandersloot suffered the season-ending injury in the Sky's 79-52 loss to the Indiana Fever on June 7. She had the operation at Rush University Medical Center. A five-time All-Star, Vandersloot averaged 10.6 points and 5.3 assists in seven games. The 5-foot-8 point guard was selected by the Sky with the third overall pick in the 2011 WNBA draft and helped lead them to the championship in 2021. She spent the previous two seasons in New York and helped the Liberty win the WNBA title last year before returning to Chicago this season.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Courtney Vandersloot's season-ending injury draws support from Angel Reese, WNBA players
The post Courtney Vandersloot's season-ending injury draws support from Angel Reese, WNBA players appeared first on ClutchPoints. Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot has been in the WNBA since 2011 and there are few players in the league who have more respect from her peers. So when she went down with a season-ending ACL injury over the weekend, players around the league showed their support. Advertisement Her teammate, Angel Reese, shared a prayer hands emoji Sunday night once the news broke. Second-year Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards posted via X, 'Sending love to my sis @Sloot22 🙏🏾🫶🏾', just hours after Washington defeated the Connecticut Sun. Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings chimed in with 'Dang… praying for you @Sloot22 !!! 🙏🏽🥰.' For the Sky, who are just 2-5, losing Vandersloot is a crucial blow. She was the team's third-leading scorer in the early part of the season, putting up 10.6 points with a team-best 5.3 assists per game. Rookie Hailey Van Lith will surely have to step up the rest of the way. Though she hasn't contributed much this year, she made an impact on Saturday against the Fever, playing 26 minutes and scoring seven points. Liberty still hope to celebrate Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Next up for the Sky is a trip to Brooklyn to face the New York Liberty on Tuesday. The plan had been for New York to honor Vandersloot, who played there in 2023 and 2024, by presenting her with her 2024 championship ring. But with the injury so recent, it's still not clear if she will travel with the team this week. Advertisement 'We're just more thinking of her, and hopefully she's okay,' her former coach, Sandy Brondello, said Sunday, per Myles Ehrlich of Winsidr. 'We'd like to celebrate her.' Vandersloot was part of the massive haul Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb brought in prior to the 2023 season that led the team to consecutive WNBA Finals appearances, along with Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. Though she played crucial roles on both squads, she saw a diminished role in the 2024 playoffs as Brondello moved her to the bench. When free agency came, Vandersloot decided to return to Chicago, where she spent the first 12 seasons of her career. Related: Jeff Teague drops 'Dennis Rodman of the WNBA' Angel Reese take Related: Courtney Vandersloot to miss remainder of season with ACL injury
