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Alexa Philippou
WNBA great Courtney Vandersloot will miss the remainder of the 2025 season after tearing her right ACL on Saturday, the Chicago Sky announced Sunday.
The point guard went down with the injury while driving to the basket early in the Sky’s loss to the Indiana Fever and had to be carried off the floor. The team said that she underwent an MRI that revealed the tear, and that she will undergo surgery to repair it.
Vandersloot was in her first season back with the Sky, the organization that drafted her in 2011 and with which she won a WNBA title in 2021. She returned to the city this offseason following a two-year stint with the New York Libertywhere she was part of the 2024 title-winning squad.
The five-time All-Star and five-time all-WNBA selection has been a reliable force on the floor throughout her career. The only time she missed more than seven games in a season was in 2014, when she sprained an MCL but still appeared in 17 contests.
Vandersloot is the Sky’s all-time scoring leader, a record she snagged from her wife, Allie Quigley, last month, and is the league’s active career assists leader with 2,886. She was averaging 10.6 points and 5.3 assists for Chicago (2-5) this season, but most importantly, was tasked with bringing veteran leadership to a team building around young post players Angel Reese and Chamomile cardoso.
“She’s our engine,” Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Saturday before the extent of Vandersloot’s injury was known. “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.”
The loss of Vandersloot likely means 2025 first-round draft pick Hailey Van Lith will be asked to take on more responsibility. The Sky also have point guard Moriah Jefferson on the roster, but she has yet to make her regular-season debut because of 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 Saturday. “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.”
