Sky scouting report vs. Phoenix

Phoenix Mercury (3-9) at Chicago Sky (7-4), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Allstate Arena

TV: Comcast CN100

Last game:On Wednesday, the visiting Mercury lost to Minnesota, 96-80, and the host Sky lost to Indiana, 81-72

Skinny:The Sky has been hurting since leading scorer Epiphanny Prince (24.3 ppg) went down with a broken foot June 16, going 0-3. But the Mercury can top that with three big injuries. The Mercury began the season without forward Penny Taylor. The 6-foot-1 Australian, one of the league’s top players, can’t play in the WNBA again until next summer after tearing up her knee while playing overseas during the offseason. Two games into the season, Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, an Olympian and one of the best players in WNBA history, suffered a hip injury and has not played since. To top it off, Candice Dupree, one of the Mercury’s top scorers (15.8 ppg) and rebounders (5.8 rpg) has missed the last three games with a sore knee.

In the meantime, Phoenix turned DeWanna Bonner, last year’s Sixth Woman of the Year winner, into a starter, and she is averaging a team-best 19.8 ppg. Point guard Samantha Prahalis, a rookie out of Ohio State, is scoring 11.8 ppg and is one of the league leaders in assists (5.3 apg).

Veteran forward Swin Cash is coming off her best game in a Sky uniform. She scored 17 points and picked up 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals against Indiana. Center Sylvia Fowles added 19 points and 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. She leads the WNBA in double-doubles.

Next:Atlanta Dream at Sky, 5 p.m. Sunday