Rookies battle as Sky loses to Shock in preseason action

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Rookie Shavonte Zellous had 18 points and eight rebounds in her first home game to lead the short-handed Detroit Shock to a 78-68 preseason victory over the Chicago Sky on Wednesday.

The defending champions were missing four key players -- Cheryl Ford, Deanna Nolan, Kristin Haynie and Plenette Pierson -- while Chicago was without starting center Sylvia Fowles.

Zellous, the 11th overall pick in April's draft, battled fellow first-round selection Kristi Toliver for much of the game. Toliver, the third pick, had 17 points in 19 minutes.

Yinka Sanni added 15 points for Detroit, and Katie Smith had 10.

Toliver was the only Chicago player to reach double figures, as the Sky looked uncomfortable with the 11 a.m. EDT starting time. Jia Perkins had nine points, while Candice Dupree had seven points and seven rebounds.

The Shock led by as many as 15 points in the first half and still had a comfortable 39-29 advantage at the intermission. Smith had all 10 of her points in the half, while Toliver had 12 in six minutes off the bench for Chicago.

Chicago scored the first eight points of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to two, and still were within 54-52 in the first minute of the fourth.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin's steal and breakaway layup moved Detroit's lead to 60-54 with 7:18 left, but Toliver answered with a 3-pointer.

Chicago, though, could never pull even, and Kara Braxton's layup clinched the game with two minutes to play.