Fowles comes up big in Sky victory
SAN ANTONIO — When Sylvia Fowles is on her game, there are few players in the WNBA who can stop her.
Fowles proved that by scoring 28 points and grabbing 17 rebounds to help the Chicago Sky defeat the San Antonio Silver Stars 85-73 on Sunday.
“She did it early, she did it in the middle, she did it late,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. “When she couldn’t do it, she snatched some boards.”
Fowles hit 12 of 16 shots from the field for the Sky (11-14), which won for only the second time in its last six games. The Silver Stars (13-10) have lost five of their last seven.
The Sky led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter before a San Antonio run cut the lead to 8 points late.
Jia Perkins was the leading scorer (18 points) for San Antonio, which beat the Sky 84-74 on June 28. Tamera Young scored 15 points for the Sky, and Michelle Snow had 11.
The Sky outrebounded the Silver Stars 45-20 and held them to 41.5 percent shooting. The Sky jumped to an 18-point lead at halftime.
Robinson’s 3-pointer with 2:10 left pulled the Silver Stars within 81-73, but Young responded with back-to-back layups as the Sky held on.
“This is the first year I can be myself,” Fowles said. “My first two years I got hurt, last year was an off year for me. But this season I feel like I can broaden my horizons and get better.”
Fowles had 22 points and 12 rebounds by halftime, dominating the Silver Stars’ centers. The 6-foot-6 star sent San Antonio starting center Ruth Riley to the bench with 3 fouls with 8:30 left in the half, and backup Jayne Appel didn’t fare any better.
The Silver Stars went to a zone late in the first half, but it didn’t matter as the Sky’s lead mushroomed to as many as 19 points. The Sky outrebounded the Silver Stars 28-8 in the half and held them to 29 percent shooting.
“That’s about as dominating a presence in the post that I have ever seen,” said Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes. “And I’ve coached over 300 games.”
The Sky went up by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter, taking a 71-46 lead on Snow’s layup with 8:56 left.
Fowles has scored in double figures in 58 straight games.
“She just had a monster game,” Young said. “We’d take jump shots and miss, and she’d just go in and clean up the boards, just going to work.”