Sky finally puts a lid on Pondexter

Coming home to Chicago has always been a treat for Cappie Pondexter.

The former Marshall superstar gets to visit with her family and catch up with old friends and teammates.

And if she has enough time, she’ll hit some of her favorite old hangouts.

For good measure, she’ll also lead her team to yet another victory over the Chicago Sky.

That had been the script for the last five years.

Until Friday.

For the first time in her six-year WNBA career, home cooking didn’t taste quite as good to Pondexter.

The sharp-shooting New York Liberty guard had led her team to a 4-0 mark against the Sky in 2010, and that pushed her personal record against the Sky to 12-0 all-time.

Pondexter was particularly lethal against the Sky last season, averaging 25 points and a 60 percent shooting clip from the field.

But the Sky finally put a lid on Cappie and that was the difference in an 85-73 victory over the Liberty in front of 5,718 at Allstate Arena.

That moves the Sky’s record to 3-1 after three straight wins over the last seven days.

“I really wanted to try to limit (Pondexter’s) touches, and then when she did get it to be really aggressive,” said Sky guard Epiphanny Prince, who guarded Pondexter for most of the game. “I know she’s going to make some of the tough ones but I just wanted to make it difficult for her.”

Prince hit the mark there.

Pondexter, who has led the WNBA in scoring a couple times from wire to wire and is averaging 20 points over her career, finished with a team-high 20 points. But each and every one of those points was tough to come by.

She hit only 4 of her 16 field goal attempts and was able to pad her stat line only by hitting a slew of free throws late in the fourth quarter when the game had long been decided. She had 12 points at the line overall.

“I credit the Sky a lot,” said Pondexter, a perennial WNBA all-star and an Olympic gold medalist. “(New Sky coach) Pokey (Chatman) is an exceptional coach and they’re definitely more motivated than they were in the past because of her. She brings this energy that makes you want to play harder.

“I just try to keep in mind that it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Sylvia Fowles led the way for the Sky with 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Prince finished with 17 points.

The Liberty, which drops to 2-3, started the 2010 season 2-9 and wound up winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.

For the Sky, it’s about both the start and the finish.

At 3-1, the Sky ties the 2009 team for the best start in franchise history, an important mark as it tries to make the playoffs for the first time in its six years of existence.

“We’re still young, we’re still feeling each other out,” Chatman said. “But this is a really good win for us.”