The Sky might have suffered their biggest loss of the season Saturday against the Fever, and it had nothing to do with getting blown out 79-52 at the United Center.
Point guard Courtney Vandersloot hurt her right knee in the first quarter and quickly was ruled out for the rest of the game. She drove and was fouled by Fever guard Aari McDonald, but it appeared to be a non-contact injury.
The game stopped as Vandersloot lay on the floor grabbing her right knee, and two Sky staff members carried her off the court to the locker room in a scene that coach Tyler Marsh said “took the energy out of the building.” He didn’t specify the severity of the injury, saying the team is still assessing it.
Not only has Vandersloot been crucial to the Sky’s blueprint this season, but she’s one of their all-time greats.
“She’s our engine, she’s our captain, she’s our leader,” Marsh said. “It’s a huge blow.
“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’ve all got to lift each other up. We all have to do a little bit more.”
The team pursued her in free agency this year after two seasons with the Liberty because it needed a veteran to give them stability on the court and away from it. As a five-time All-Star, two-time champion and future Hall of Famer, Vandersloot instilled professionalism and high standards on a team that seemed directionless last season.
She was playing a team-high 31 minutes per game and averaged 12 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals going into Saturday. She had two points in five minutes before exiting.
If it’s a major injury, as it appeared to be, it raises concerns about the future of a 36-year-old player in her 15th season.
Vandersloot told the Sun-Times last month she wonders how much longer she has left — “I think about it often, more than I want to,” she said — but had no plans to retire.
“I really do want to stay in the moment and go day by day and year by year,” she said. “My mentality is as long as I can play at a really high level and compete and help my team, I’ll do this as long as I can.”
She already stands as arguably the most accomplished player in Sky history.
They drafted her third overall in 2011, and in 13 seasons with them, she made four All-Star teams, led them to their only championship and has finished in the top 10 in MVP voting four times.
Vandersloot is the Sky’s all-time leader in scoring (3,745 points), minutes (10,336), assists (2,423) and steals (468).
Without Vandersloot, the Sky relied on rookie Hailey Van Lith, and she played a career-high 26 minutes and finished with seven points and no assists. Banham scored four points.
Van Lith called Vandersloot’s injury “heartbreaking,” and said the Sky are motivated to “make this moment mean something in the end” by rallying from their 2-5 start.
The offense disintegrated without Vandersloot, and the Fever rolled to a 20-point lead late in the third quarter. They led 71-41 early in the fourth — without Caitlin Clark, who has been out with a quad injury.
The Sky didn’t have a player reach double figures, and center Kamilla Cardoso led them with eight points.
The Sky scored the fifth-lowest point total in their history and tied for the lowest scoring output in the WNBA this season.
Angel Reese scored four points on 2-for-7 shooting and had 12 rebounds in 27 minutes as Marsh emptied his bench for the final six minutes.
It’ll be tough for the Sky to snap back from this debacle, especially without Vandersloot. After getting destroyed by the Fever, up next is a visit to the defending champion Liberty on Tuesday.