Quigley rallies Sky to 77-74 win over Sun
Elena Delle Donne didn't care about her free throw streak ending or her lack of points, she was just happy her team came away with a victory.
Allie Quigley scored 19 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 15.4 seconds left, to lift the Chicago Sky to a 77-74 win over the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night.
The Sun (7-3) held Delle Donne, who leads the WNBA in scoring averaging 28.7 points, to a season-low 12 points. She also saw her streak of 58 straight free throws made come to an end in the first quarter.
"Oh well. Work on the next set of streaks or something," Delle Donne said laughing. "I'm thrilled we got a win, that's the most important thing."
Trailing by 11 points in the third quarter the Sky (6-5) rallied behind Quigley. Her 3-pointer with 2:14 left made it 73-72. After two free throws by Alyssa Thomas restored a one-point lead for the Sun with 1:58 left in the game, neither could score until Quigley's free throws.
"She was ridiculous, got ice going through her veins," Delle Donne said of Quigley. "She was so clutch."
After Alex Bentley's floater in the lane missed, Delle Donne hit two free throws with 3 seconds left to seal the victory. Bentley's wild 3 at the buzzer missed.
She finished with a career-high 25 points to lead Connecticut.
"It is a tough loss because I felt like we had it," Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "We made some mistakes late in the game that we need to clean up."
The Sky held the Sun to nine points in the final quarter.
"It was by far the best defense we've played this whole entire year," Delle Donne said. "Hoping it will give us confidence and we'll continue to play that way."
Delle Donne fell eight free throws shy of the WNBA record set by Eva Nemcova in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. The 6-foot-5 forward did surpass Lindsay Whalen's season mark of 54 straight in her last game. She is 97 for 100 on the season.
"I'll just have to start up another streak now," Delle Donne said laughing.
Earlier in the day, Delle Donne was announced as the Eastern Conference leader in voting for the All-Star Game which will be played in Connecticut on July 25.
"It's great to know the fans are supporting me and are excited about what's happening this season," Delle Donne said. "Got to continue to get more fans watching and excited about the game. Got to keep getting more people voting."
Connecticut was missing forward Kelsey Bone, who was serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul 2 committed in the Sun's last game against Indiana on Tuesday. Bone is averaging 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.
The Sun got a scare when Thomas went down under the basket early in the third quarter. She injured her right hip and went to the locker room. She returned later in the period.