Fowles helps Sky edge Fever 60-57
ROSEMONT - Sylvia Fowles knew she had to step up for her struggling team. Her teammates have said they need her, and her coach has challenged her.
Fowles responded with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Chicago Sky to a 60-57 victory over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night. The Sky (9-14) snapped a six-game losing streak.
"Our mindset coming into the second half is to be more aggressive and utilize what we have right now in the moment," Fowles said.
Epiphanny Prince added 13 points for the Sky, who had lost 13 of 16.
Marissa Coleman and Tamika Catchings each had 11 points for the Fever (11-13).
Prince hit a driving layup for a 57-55 Sky lead with 21.3 seconds left. Fowles fouled Erlana Larkins, who made one of two free throws with 16.1 seconds remaining. After the Sky's Jamierra Faulkner hit one of two free throws, Fowles tried to block a driving Catchings but was called for the foul with 4.1 seconds left.
Catchings made one of two free throws. On the other end, Allie Quigley hit both free throws for the final.
"I told them we had to do the dirty work, rebounding, getting to the free-throw line, staying connected to the defensive message," Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. "Maybe it was ugly if you're a fan. It was beautiful for me."
The Sky shot 16 of 17 from the free-throw line while the Fever were 9 for 20.
"We did everything we needed to do in the second half to come back and win, but when you're on the road and miss 11 free throws you're going to have an awful hard time winning," Fever coach Lin Dunn said.
The Fever tied it at 51 after Karima Christmas' 3-pointer with 5:12 left and Catchings' two free throws at 3:54. Catchings missed both free throws with 1:32 remaining, but hit a layup with 1:02 left.
Fowles answered with a layup before Coleman made both free throws to tie it again.
The Sky remained without starters Courtney Vandersloot (knee) and Elena Delle Donne (Lyme disease). Chatman said Delle Donne, who is averaging 21.2 points and hasn't played since June 25, will "probably" return against New York on July 31 if her treatments and workouts go well.
The Fever beat the Sky 82-64 on Thursday in Indianapolis.
"I thought they would play better than they played at our place the other night, and they did," Dunn said. "I don't think our players realized whatever happened Thursday night didn't matter. We were going to come in and play a team that's desperate."