Liberty again roll over Chicago Sky to stay undefeated 

This was going to be Courtney Vandersloot’s return to Barclays Center, a chance for her to add a ring to her collection after contributing to the Liberty’s 2024 championship season. But her right ACL and 2025 season with Chicago took a turn for the absolute worst Saturday night.

The 36-year-old point guard’s painful tear on a drive to the basket against Indiana at United Center ended her 15th year in the WNBA after just seven games, following her return to her original team.

“We would’ve loved to have presented her ring tonight and celebrated the success she had with us last year,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.

The Sky had mostly been falling even with Vandersloot, losing five of their first seven, including a setback against the Liberty that came with a 25-point margin.

The Liberty now had an injury issue of their own with Jonquel Jones sitting out. But they received 23 points, seven assists and four steals from Sabrina Ionescu, 18 points from Breanna Stewart and 15 off the bench from Kennedy Burke Tuesday night, and the defending champs beat Chicago, 85-66.

That extended their franchise record to nine straight wins to open the season.

“This is a whole new year,” Brondello said. “We’ve got new goals. We’ve got new standards and expectations of ourselves. It’s coming to work every day and making sure we’re process based. We want to [win the championship] again. We know it’s very hard. There are still areas that we’ve got to get better at.

“But it’s a credit to the players, just how focused they are.”

Jones injured her right ankle Thursday night at Washington. She’s day to day and “making progress,” according to Brondello.

But they got Nyara Sabally back after she missed the previous six games with a right knee issue. The 6-5 center started for Jones, hit all four of her shots and scored nine. She looked great,” Brondello said.

The Sky did not outside of Angel Reese, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Without Vandersloot running the show, they committed 22 turnovers leading to 20 points.

“I know this was [going to be] a special night for her,” coach Tyler Marsh said, “but I think ultimately her disappointment lies in wanting to be the best version of herself for the Chicago Sky.”

Ionescu scored 10 in the first quarter and Stewart had nine. The Liberty forced seven turnovers, committed none and led 26-15 after 10 minutes.

Burke has become an important contributor in her reserve role. The guard/forward nailed two threes in the final minute of the second quarter, including one from the right corner with 1.4 on the clock, making it a 52-32 game.

Chicago committed 15 turnovers in that first half.

Ionescu scored seven in an 11-0 run that left the Liberty up by 28 at 70-42 heading for the fourth.

The margin reached as high as 34.

“Defense is like a pride thing and really making it tough for the other team to get easy looks,” Stewart said. “I’m just proud of the way this team plays on both sides of the ball.”