advertisement

Record-setting Delle Donne leads Sky to win

Good thing the Chicago Sky is one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the WNBA.

Nearly every one of the Sky's 34 made free throws were needed to stave off the scrappy Atlanta Dream Wednesday afternoon in front of 9,893 fans on Camp Day at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The Sky saw its 17-point, second-half lead erased before holding on for a 100-96 overtime victory over the Dream, which had beaten the Sky last week by 1 point on a buzzer beater in Atlanta.

This time, the Sky, which is hitting free throws at a 79.9 percent clip (second-best in the WNBA), drained 34-of-36 free throws. Forward Elena Delle Donne set a league record for most consecutive free throws in a game without a miss, hitting 19-of-19 free throws en route to her 45-point game, a Sky record.

She entered the game leading the WNBA in scoring at 29.3 points per game.

"My foul shot is something I've worked on since … eighth grade," said Delle Donne, who was briefly interrupted by Sky coach Pokey Chatman.

"(Since…) the birth canal," Chatman said with a laugh.

"Well, I changed (the free throw technique) in the eighth grade to simplify it, and it's something I've worked on for a really long time in pressure situations," Delle Donne continued. "We couldn't miss or we'd lose the game."

The WNBA's previous consecutive free throw record (17-for-17) was held by Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry, who had 34 points for the Dream and was 5-of-6 from the line.

McCoughtry hit one of her three 3-pointers with 8.6 seconds left in overtime to pull Atlanta to within 98-96. But then Delle Donne hit 2 of her 8 overtime free throws to secure the win, the Sky's second OT win in a row.

"We know the high-powered, fast play of Atlanta, but the thing I was most impressed with was that we continued to stay in attack mode to the tune of shooting 36 free throws and that's a mentality," Chatman said. "Sometimes you get a little down defensively and you become tentative and it starts with people who have ice water in their veins who aren't afraid to take action."

Nine players finished in double-figures, including Cappie Pondexter (19 points, 6-of-7 FT), Allie Quigley (16 points, 6-of-6 FT) and Courtney Vandersloot (13 points) for the Sky.

Delle Donne's 45 points gave her 221 points through seven games, which shatters the WNBA record of 193 points that Maya Moore of Minnesota set in the first seven games of last season.

Named Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday, Delle Donne has earned the respect of Pondexter, a 10-year veteran, perennial all-star and Chicago native.

"She's playing exceptionally well," Pondexter said of Delle Donne, who also had 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 6 blocks. "She deserves everything she's got coming to her."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.