Chicago Sky suffers 'tough outcome'

Chicago Sky coach Amber Stocks sat down in her news-conference chair Sunday night and took all of five seconds to sum up her team's night.

"Tough game, tough outcome," Stocks said.

It just wasn't the Sky's night in any way in a 97-79 loss to the Connecticut Sun.

For starters, the Sun entered Sunday's game as one of two winless teams in the WNBA.

Also, Sky starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot left the game with a serious ankle injury. Her status was unknown immediately following the game.

Meanwhile, foul trouble plagued both teams with a total of 51 fouls called. But Chicago seemed to have more key players affected.

One starter, center Stefanie Dolson, was in immediate foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Two other starters, Cappie Pondexter and Tamera Young, had 4 or more fouls.

The Sky didn't capitalize on their free throws as well as the Sun did either. There were 70 total free-throw attempts in the game, and the Sky hit on only 61 percent (19 of 31), while the Sun hit on 72 percent (28 of 39) of its attempts.

Rebounding also was a sore spot for the Sky, outrebounded 50-36 by the Sun, which got a stunning performance out of second-year center Jonquel Jones. The 6-foot-6 Jones recorded the 16th 20-20 game in WNBA history by scoring a career-high 23 points and pulling down 21 rebounds.

"She (Jones) is very long and she's going after every rebound," said Sky forward Cheyenne Parker, who finished with 11 points off the bench. "So if we help or if we're slightly out of position, she's going to get that rebound. And the refs made it very clear that we had to be careful with how we boxed out."

The Sky, which got a team-high 17 points from forward Tamera Young, dropped to 1-5 on the season and runs the risk of frustration setting in.

"No, frustrated is definitely not a word I would use," Stocks challenged. "All 12 ladies are extremely competitive. The competitiveness is all channeled into focus and drive.

"Frustration is probably something that a lot of them have left years ago when they get into this type of predicament."

Former DePaul star guard Allie Quigley had 13 points for the Sky and Pondexter added 11.

Besides Jones, four other players scored in double figures for Connecticut, which is 1-4. Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, Lynetta Kizer had 16 points off the bench, and Alex Bentley and Jasmine Thomas added 11 and 10 points respectively.