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For Pondexter, Sky has no limits

Much like the Detroit Pistons had the "Jordan Rules," the Chicago Sky had the "Cappie Rules."

Four to five times a year the Sky plays the New York Liberty, and the focus in each game over the last five years was trying to make Cappie Pondexter, a six-time WNBA all-star six, less effective.

"We've actually played her 11 times over the last two years and, no disrespect to anyone else on those New York teams, but every time, we were so focused on how to stop Cappie," Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. "We wanted to know where she was, what side of the floor she was on, what she was doing. We wanted to mix up defenses on her, give her different looks.

"She is such a fierce competitor, someone you build your entire scouting report around. She plays with such emotion and she hits so many big-time shots, and there's always this fear in you that she can, at any point, go off."

Now Chatman can sit back and relish that Pondexter will be someone else's problem. On Monday, the Sky acquired the 5-foot-9 Pondexter, a native of Chicago who starred at Marshall High School, in a trade that sent standout guard Epiphanny Prince, a native of Brooklyn, to the Liberty.

"I'm excited to help Pokey make some new rules for someone else," laughed Pondexter, who is finishing commitments with her team in Australia. "I'm excited to come home; my family still lives in Chicago. And I am excited to help the Sky win championships.

"I'm 32 and I'm hoping that Chicago is my last stop. I'd really like to win a few more championships before I retire. One of the most attractive parts of this (trade) was that it was a matter of competing for championships. And I really think the Sky is in a great position to do that."

Pondexter, who will be entering her 10th WNBA season and boasts the league's fourth-best career scoring average (19.2 ppg), won two titles in Phoenix (2007, 2009). She began her career there in 2006 and spent four years before being traded to New York. Pondexter's trade to New York in 2010 involved the Sky in a three-way deal that sent Candice Dupree to Phoenix and Shameka Christon and Cathrine Kraayeveld from New York to Chicago.

That trade benefited the Sky the least. Neither Christon nor Kraayeveld lasted long while Dupree just won the WNBA championship with Phoenix.

This trade should work much better for the Sky.

"This just fits in terms of moving our franchise one step closer to a championship," Chatman said. "You're always looking for something that will put you over the top. With Cappie, we like her experience and when you're trying to win championships, you're always looking for what's missing. (Championship experience) is a gap we needed to close.

"Piph is a great player, very talented. But she was young, on the youngest team in the league. Cappie is hungry for another championship and she knows what it takes to get one. Her ability to take over a game and be a leader really impacts the rest of the players."

Prince, who will be entering her sixth WNBA season and has averaged 14.1 points and 3.1 assists over her career, seems at peace with the trade. Drafted by the Sky with the fourth overall pick in 2010, she is the Sky's all-time leader in 3-pointers and will be remembered for her uncanny ability to hit them at the buzzer.

"It means a lot to me," Prince told The Associated Press about returning to New York. "To come home to play in front of my family and friends is huge."

Pondexter joins a team that advanced to the WNBA Finals last summer. The Sky's starting lineup is once again solid.

Point guard Courtney Vandersloot was just re-signed, and Pondexter will start in the backcourt at shooting guard. That puts Elena Delle Donne, one of the best players when healthy, at small forward. Jessica Breland, who just re-signed, is at power forward and 6-foot-6 Sylvia Fowles, the franchise's cornerstone, at center.

The Sky also has everyone from last year locked except for sharpshooter Allie Quigley, the WNBA's sixth woman of the year last summer. Chatman says it is her priority to re-sign Quigley, who averaged a career-best 11.2 ppg.

"We're feeling good, and when our players heard about (the Pondexter trade), they were so excited about it," Chatman said.

It's been five years since Pondexter hoisted a trophy, and she's getting antsy.

"I pride myself on winning and I want to win one or two or however many more championships I can before I'm done. I think I have another five or six really good years left, and I think Chicago is really close (to a championship)," Pondexter said. "I'm OK with stepping up and being a leader, saying things that might be uncomfortable but that need to be said. I think that's what Pokey expects of me and I'll do that if it will help us win.

"I almost think this was something that was bound to happen, me coming home to win championships. I think it would be the perfect ending for me."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

• Follow Patricia on Twitter@babcockmcgraw

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