Delle Donne scores 26 as Sky tops Liberty
Elena Delle Donne scored a career-high 26 points and Sylvia Fowles added her fifth double-double of the season as the Sky rallied from an early deficit on the way to a 87-74 victory over the New York Liberty on Wednesday.
Fowles had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago (6-3), Epiphanny Prince had 14 points and Shay Murphy added 13.
“Our defense allows us to run in transition,” Delle Donne said. “We have to get stops in order to get out and run ... And my shot felt good today, I got some extra adrenaline because the last game it was poor. It’s nice to see hard work pay off.”
Cappie Pondexter scored 21 points while Leilani Mitchell added 12 for New York (4-4), which committed 17 turnovers.
“We went back to the ways we had in the first part of the season — turning the ball over and we’re not good enough to turn the ball over like we did in spurts,” Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said. “That’s what got them going in the second quarter.”
Leading 62-61 to open the fourth, the Sky took command with eight straight points and hit their largest lead to that point 75-64 on a Prince’s free throw on a technical foul with 4:46 remaining.
The Liberty climbed within five points with 2:42 to play. Delle Donne pushed the lead back to nine at 83-74 with 94 seconds remaining with a driving layup, drew a foul and hit the shot.
Chicago forward Swin Cash moved into sole possession of 15th place on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list with a jumper with 8:20 left in the third quarter. She entered the game tied with Sue Bird and finshed with six points to increase her career totals to 4,464.
Liberty forward Plenette Pierson left the game with 7:39 left in the first half after hitting her right knee on the floor. She limped off the court for treatment and did not return.
“We don’t know yet,” Laimbeer said. “We’ll have to wait and see what the doctors have to say.”
New York led 30-15 after one quarter, the most points it has scored in any period so far this season.
The Sky bounced back in the second quarter. Delle Donne scored 16 points — including eight in a 16-2 run over a span of 4 minutes, 51 seconds that trimmed a double-digit deficit to 34-31. The rookie also converted a four-point play to tie the score at 37-all and Murphy’s ensuing steal and layup gave Chicago its first lead at 39-37.
“I don’t think it was an adjustment,” Fowles said of the Sky’s comeback in the second quarter. “We just put our mind to it to just go out there and play defense the way we are capable of playing. And that’s exactly what happened. ... (The Liberty) were still running the same sets. They were doing the same things but we just added our defense to it.”
Murphy also made two free throws with 28 seconds left as Chicago took a 44-42 halftime lead. The Sky also led 62-61 after three quarters.