Prince, Fowles lead Sky to 80-67 win over Mystics

Epiphanny Prince had 18 points and Sylvia Fowles scored 14 — all in the second half — and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Chicago Sky to an 80-67 victory over the Washington Mystics on Friday night.

Tamera Young added 12 points for Chicago (13-15), which moved 1½ games behind fourth-place Atlanta in the Eastern Conference.

Crystal Langhorne scored 19 points, Kelly Miller had 13 and Matee Ajavon added 12 for the Mystics (5-22), who have lost seven straight.

Fowles, limited to 4:57 of playing time in the first half due to early foul trouble, dominated play in the second half as Chicago pulled away from a 49-49 tie midway through the third quarter.

The Sky led 61-55 entering the final period but pushed the margin to 18 with 5:06 to play. They never led the lead slip under double digits the rest of the way

Chicago led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter before Washington's 11-0 run over a 4-minute span cut the Sky's lead to single digits.

Prince hit a jumper with 31 seconds left and followed with a 3 pointer as the Sky opened a 45-38 lead at the break.

The Mystics staged another run early in the third quarter, tying the game at 49-all on Ajavon's bank shot with 4½ minutes remaining. Fowles scored eight points to restore Chicago's lead to six entering the fourth.

Washington was scheduled to return home for a Sunday game with Phoenix. But the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene could force postponement of that game.

Chicago hosts New York on Sunday and the Liberty were on hand to watch Friday's game after leaving New York ahead of the hurricane.