Fever come out with win over Sky in historic night at United Center

Both Sky and Fever fans filled the United Center, hoping to see a better game than the last time these two teams faced off in the season opener in the arena's first ever WNBA game.

An early first quarter injury to Chicago’s floor general in Courtney Vandersloot led to a discombobulated Sky performance and their fifth loss of the season, 79-52. This is the lowest amount of points scored by the Sky since the Sept. 19 game against the Connecticut Sun in 2024 where they put up only 54 points.

"They out-toughed us," Rebecca Allen said after the loss. "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 we want to never feel again."

The Sky lost Vandersloot at the 5:29 mark of the first quarter as she went down hard driving to the basket with her immediately grabbing her knee.

"It's heartbreaking," Hailey Van Lith said after the game. "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 this organization. Right now, we're giving her a lot of energy and praying for her."

She was assisted off the court and taken immediately to the locker room to where she was officially ruled out for the remainder of the game. The team is still assessing the extent of injury.

"Our hearts are with Sloot," head coach Tyler Marsh said after the loss. "When she went down, it kind of took the energy out of building a little bit on our side, and it was tough for us to regroup from that.

"We're not using that as an excuse, but it's how we felt. Trying to bounce back from that was tough, especially from a highly energetic and physical Indiana team that was motivated to get a win. We just got to continue to push forward, and I know Sloot would want us to as well."

With both teams without their starting point guards as Caitlin Clark was unavailable with a quad strain, it led to an incredibly sloppy basketball game in the first half with both teams putting up a combined 22 turnovers. Chicago especially felt the loss of the 14-year veteran point guard almost instantly, giving up 4 of their 7 first quarter turnovers in the last 5 minutes of the quarter.

"For us, I think we just got to be consistent and persistent in playing the style of basketball that we want to play," Marsh said. "We can't that waiver from game to game. We need to generate that consistency there, and I think we will. We've seen the blueprint of what it looks like when it's clicking. We just need to do that on a consistent basis."

The Sky finished with 22 total turnovers and gave up 23 points off those turnovers.

"We all got to step up and be better and that starts with me," Marsh said. "I got to be better for our players."

The Fever went through something similar but had offensive efficiency on their side, shooting 48.3% on the floor compared to the Sky’s 36.7%, Marsh called a timeout midway through the second quarter to bail his team out of another turnover.

After that timeout, the Sky started to look a bit more poised but still couldn’t get anything going offensively. The looks weren't there, they were disorganizaed and on top of that, the ball just wouldn't fall.

"It looked at times that we were unable to get into a consistent rhythm," Marsh said. "It's one thing if we're making or missing shots. Tonight, we couldn't get the looks that we wanted to generate. That's where Sloot's [impact is] is more on the organizational side of it."

Defensively, they played more disciplined and sound than the last time these two met in the season opener, especially Kamilla Cardoso. She created two consecutive turnovers with her tight defense and did so without getting into early foul trouble. 

Coming out of halftime, Indiana just began their steamroll of the Sky, outscoring the Sky in the third quarter, 27-11. The ball found the bottom of the net time after time from all over the court. The Fever had four players finish in double-digit scoring with Kelsey Mitchell leading the way with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

The Sky’s offensive rhythm was gone early in the first quarter, and they could not find their way back. Not a single Sky player reached double-digit scoring with leading scorers being Rebecca Allen and Kamilla Cardoso putting up 8 points a piece.

"Whatever's in store for the future of this team, I trust that we will find this moment mean something in the end," Van Lith said.

The Sky are now on a long road stretch with their next game being in New York where they take on the undefeated Liberty on Tuesday, June 10. Tip time for the game is set for 7 p.m.