Sky battles, falls short

For being without its best player, the Chicago Sky gave the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock quite a fight Friday night.

Then again, the Shock was also without one of its best players, a player who also happened to be named the most valuable player of the WNBA All-Star Game.

Sky forward Candice Dupree missed the game to attend her grandmother's funeral in Florida, and Detroit forward Cheryl Ford is out for the rest of the regular season with a knee injury.

So with the loss of star power essentially neutralized, it was up to the rest of the players on each team to pick up the slack.

Those on the Shock picked up a bit more in a 66-60 victory in front of 4,635 at the UIC Pavilion. It was secured in the last two minutes by a string of Katie Smith free throws -- 2 of which came after a questionable foul call that Sky players disputed with veiled references following the game.

The Sky was down by 3 with 2:07 left when it was whistled for a foul and Smith hit a pair of free throws. She ended the game with 5 straight for Detroit, which stays atop the Eastern Conference with a 22-6 record.

The Sky, meanwhile, drops to 12-16 but hangs on for another day to fourth place and the last playoff spot in the East.

"Because there is a chance (for the playoffs), you can see how hard we're playing, how hard we're diving for balls, how hard we're running up and down the floor," Sky coach Bo Overton said. "A couple plays don't go our way, a couple shots don't fall. It's tough, but all I know is that at the end of the day, it all (foul calls) evens out."

That was of little consolation to Sky guard Stacey Dales (14 points). She was careful not to criticize the officials for fear of being fined but still couldn't mask her disgust.

"I don't have any comment on that," Dales said abruptly when asked where the game turned at the end. "I mean, you guys saw it, didn't you?

"It was really disappointing. We thought we could win this game. We didn't have Candice, but we played really hard and got some awesome contributions off the bench."

Dupree, who will rejoin the team Sunday in Washington, averages about 17 points per game. Overton started Brooke Wyckoff in her place and also played seldom-used forward Liz Moeggenberg 19 minutes. But Wyckoff and Moeggenberg combined for only 6 points.

Jia Perkins led the Sky with 19 points.

Reserve forward Plenette Pierson paced Detroit with 15 points.