Chicago Sky wastes Quigley's 29-point night

Twice in a row, the Chicago Sky has gotten an epic individual performance out of one of its players.

And twice in a row, the Sky has lost.

In spite of 38 points from star forward Elena Delle Donne, the Sky couldn't pull out a win Tuesday in Minnesota.

And Friday night at the Allstate Arena, it was reserve guard Allie Quigley's big night that was wasted. The former DePaul star poured in a career-high 29 points on a career-high six 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough as the Sky fell 88-85 to the New York Liberty.

The Liberty remain atop the Eastern Conference standings at 14-6. The Sky, meanwhile, fell to 7-11.

"It feels terrible," Quigley said of the emptiness of a career night in a loss. "Especially in a 3-point loss, I'm not thinking about how many points I scored; I'm thinking that I missed this one and that one and this one.

"It comes down to those possessions, the one or two things that each of us did wrong."

The Sky, down by as many as 15 points, cut its deficit to 5 points by the end of the third quarter on the strength of Quigley's shooting. She finished 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

She and reserve point guard Jamierra Faulkner (18 points) were big in the fourth quarter, too, as the Sky took its first lead.

The Sky had an opportunity with 15 seconds left to tie the game but could not get the ball to Quigley for a 3-point attempt.

"In a one possession game, a lot had to do with these two ladies sitting next to me," said Sky coach Pokey Chatman, flanked by Quigley and Faulkner during the postgame news conference. "They fought, got good looks, kept us involved."

Unfortunately for the Sky, Tina Charles, the leading scorer in the WNBA, was a little too involved on the other end. She tied Quigley for game-high scoring honors with 29 points. She hit 11 of 12 free throws and also pulled down 9 rebounds.

New York also got 21 points from guard Sugar Rodgers.

"She works really, really, really hard," Chatman said of Charles. "She just really wants the ball. She's skilled, she's strong, she had a quickness about her. She just keeps expanding her game."

The Sky, which has lost seven of its last nine, also got 14 points from Delle Donne.