All is fair in love and basketball for Courtney Vandersloot.
The Chicago Sky point guard proved that in the third quarter of Thursday night’s 97-92 win over the Dallas Wings when she broke the all-time franchise scoring record with a pull-up jumper. Vandersloot finished with 13 points to raise her career total with the Sky to 3,728. She added nine assist and four steals.
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The historic moment was also a family affair — after all, she broke a record held by her wife, Allie Quigley. The retired Sky star watched from a suite at Wintrust Arena while holding their daughter, Jana, who was born in April.
Vandersloot, 36, was a fixture in the Sky’s history books long before the game. The captain helped bring the Sky their first title in 2021 and shattered league records in per-game and single-game assist totals. By the time she left the franchise for the New York Liberty in 2023, Vandersloot had cemented her legacy in Chicago.
When she made the decision to return this year, Vandersloot only renewed that loyalty — and earned another chance to win bragging rights back home.
“I try not to get attached to individual records — because records are meant to be broken, and this one will be at some point,” Vandersloot said after the win. “But for me to pass my wife, I think it speaks (to) our commitment together to this franchise. She’s a scorer and deserves this record, but I think she’s going to let me hold onto it for a while. We’ll be a one-two punch for a while.”
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Similar to the Sky, the Wings were almost unrecognizable from the 2024 iteration of their team. The revamped roster is now centered around 2025 No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, who drew a crowd of UConn fans for the game.
Bueckers entered the NCAA in the same year as Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso but declared for the draft one year later because of extensive injuries throughout her college career. Although the three were faces of the high-powered 2020 high school class, their paths rarely crossed at the collegiate level — Bueckers briefly shared the court with Cardoso in a 2022 NCAA Tournament game and had never played against Reese until Thursday night.
Despite that lack of experience on the court, Bueckers knew what to expect from the Sky’s star frontcourt pairing in Chicago.
“They just work extremely hard,” said Bueckers, who had 15 points, eight assists, three blocks and three steals for the Wings (1-5). “They’re very consistent in the energy they bring every single night. Regardless of the circumstances, you know they’re gonna crash the boards, run the floor, they really want to get out in transition. They’re incredible competitors.”
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Those young stars were center stage in the Sky’s first win. Cardoso scored their first 10 points to help build an early 13-point lead. The center went on to score a career-high 23 points to fuel the Sky (1-4) to a clutch win despite falling behind in the second half after an offensive lull.
Reese struggled again, scoring six points on 2-for-6 shooting. She added nine rebounds and five assists. An All-Star as a rookie in 2024, Reese is shooting 31.3% (15-for-48) and averaging 9.2 points.
Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, a four-time All-Star, led all scorers with 37 points. The Notre Dame graduate and Milwaukee native shot 14-for-25 overall and 6-for-12 from 3-point range.
The Sky head to Dallas for a rematch Saturday.
