Sky deflated by 'heartbreaking' Vandersloot injury

CHICAGO -- The first WNBA game at United Center had a downbeat feel for the Chicago Sky, who lost veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot to a right knee injury in the opening quarter Saturday night and then never got their offense going in a 79-52 loss to the Indiana Fever.

Sky coach Tyler Marsh said after the game there was no update on Vandersloot's condition.

Vandersloot was driving to the basket and went down with 5:29 left in the first quarter. She was quickly surrounded by her teammates and then carried off the court.

"She's our engine," Marsh said. "She's our captain and our leader out there, so obviously it's a huge blow. But hopefully it's not as serious as we may think. We're hoping she is able to bounce back, but for the time being we all got to pick her up. We all got to lift her up, we all got to lift each other up."

Sky rookie guard Hailey Van Lith played a season-high 26 minutes with Vandersloot sidelined and another veteran guard, Moriah Jefferson, out of action with a leg injury.

"It's heartbreaking to watch anybody [get hurt], but especially one of your teammates and someone that means as much as Sloot does to our team and this organization," Van Lith said. "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. We're very concerned and our hearts go out to Sloot."

Vandersloot, 36, is in her 15th WNBA season. The No. 3 draft pick in 2011 by Chicago, she spent the first 12 years of her career with the Sky, winning the 2021 WNBA title. Vandersloot went to the New York Liberty in 2023 and 2024 and won another league championship last year.

She returned to Chicago this year as the veteran guard presence the team wanted alongside second-year post players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. On May 29, Vandersloot became the Sky organization's all-time scoring leader, passing her wife, Allie Quigley, to set the mark.

Vandersloot is the WNBA's active career leader in assists with 2,886, trailing only retired former Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird (3,234). Vandersloot has led the league in assists five times.

Many of the 19,496 fans Saturday night -- the largest-ever home crowd for the Sky, who usually play at 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena -- originally bought tickets hoping to see another showdown between Indiana's Caitlin Clark and Reese, two of the league's young standouts. But Clark has been out since May 26 with a calf injury, and Reese -- like the rest of the Sky offense -- was ineffective. She finished with four points on 2-of-7 shooting with 12 rebounds.

The Sky (2-5) scored 15 points or less in each quarter Saturday and didn't have any player score in double figures, both firsts for the franchise, which began in 2006.

Clark missed her fourth game, but there is a possibility she could return next week. Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham also was out Saturday with an ankle injury she suffered in an 85-83 loss to Connecticut on May 30.

The Fever signed guard Aari McDonald via emergency hardship with Clark and Cunningham out, and she has played well in the Fever's subsequent two victories, including 12 points and three steals Saturday. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 17 points.

After losing three straight games, the Fever have won two in a row. They held Chicago to even fewer points Saturday than they did in beating the Sky 93-58 in the teams' season-opener May 17.

The win was the first for Fever assistant Austin Kelly. He filled in as head coach for Stephanie White, who missed the game for personal reasons. Kelly said he got a congratulatory text from White after the game. The Fever don't know if she will return for their next game, Tuesday at Atlanta.

"We've got a great group," Kelly said of the Fever, now 4-4. "They did a hell of a job for 40 minutes. Great leadership there in that locker room."