Last-second jumpshot saves the Chicago Sky

It's tough to get much of an emotional reaction out of former DePaul basketball star Allie Quigley.

Perhaps that's why she's able to sink clutch jumpshots like the one that essentially won the game for the Chicago Sky on Friday night at Allstate Arena.

Quigley, calm and matter-of-fact, drained a 3-pointer with just 2.1 seconds left to lift the Sky to a crucial 87-85 victory over the Washington Mystics, who missed a baseline 3-pointer on their last-second attempt.

The victory keeps the Sky, in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 16-11 record, in the hunt for a playoff spot. Washington, at 15-10, is in third place in the East.

Four teams from each conference make the WNBA playoffs, which begin next month.

"I guess (the shot) is up there (with the other clutch shots she's made over her career)," Quigley, a native of Joliet, said with a shrug. "I'm just happy that we won."

Quigley, a reserve guard who won the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year award last season, scored 20 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. She also had 3 assists.

"(Quigley) has a shooter's mentality," Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. "You don't know if she's made five or missed five. That's the trust she has in her game. And she's not just a catch-and-shoot player, she can attack the basket and she can create. All that good stuff."

Forward Elena Delle Donne led the Sky with 22 points, including two 3-pointers. She also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Guard Cappie Pondexter (11 points) and forward Clarissa Dos Santos (10 points) also finished in double-figures for the Sky, which out-rebounded the Mystics (45-27) and out-scored the Mystics in the paint, 44-32.

The game had 18 lead changes and was tied 18 times. The Sky was down by 3 points (85-82) on an Emma Meesseman jumpshot with 29.9 seconds remaining. But Pondexter hit 2 free throws to cut the deficit to 1 point, and then Delle Donne came up with a big steal that began the possession leading to Quigley's 3-pointer.

"We hit some shots when it counted," Chatman said. "I think the biggest thing for me is that you see a team that is growing up and trusting each other.

"And it's that time of year where every possession counts, it's that whatever-it-takes mentality. It's crunch time."

Meesseman, an all-star forward, paced Washington with 20 points. Center Stefanie Dolson, also an all-star, added 14 points for Washington while teammate Kara Lawson finished with 13 points.