DeShields, Vandersloot lead Sky past Mercury 82-75

Like any basketball team, the Chicago Sky doesn't want to die by the 3-pointer.

But head coach James Wade and his players sure are OK living by it.

"As long as they're going in," Wade said with a chuckle.

And on Tuesday night, they certainly were.

The Sky hit 12 of 23 3-pointers to push past a pesky Phoenix Mercury team, 82-75, at Wintrust Arena. Forward Diamond DeShields led the way with a scorching effort from long range, connecting on five of eight 3-pointers as part of her team-high 25 points.

The win pushes the Sky, which has won two straight home games, over the .500 mark at 3-2.

"I felt good," DeShields said of her 3-point shooting. "We spend so much time on it. Being that I didn't go overseas (over the off-season), literally every day I was working on it, trying to perfect my form.

"At my position, I felt that in order to enhance my game, it was something I had to work on. I couldn't ignore my (3-point) shooting percentage."

The Sky also got double-figures out of three other players, including 17 points out of point guard Courtney Vandersloot. She had a key layup down the stretch over 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner to help close out the win.

"I was thinking that I didn't want to get blocked," Vandersloot said of her tough make over Griner. "I spent a lot of time practicing against Brittney (overseas) and I know that trying to draw her away from the basket opens things up."

Vandersloot, the leading playmaker in the WNBA, also had 8 assists. And she had three 3-pointers herself.

A total of four players hit 3-pointers for the Sky, including center Stefanie Dolson who hit two on her way to 14 points.

Gabby Williams was also in double figures. She had 10 points off the bench.

DeWanna Bonner, the leading scorer in the WNBA, topped Phoenix (2-3) with a game-high 28 points. Griner added 16 points, and no other Mercury players reached double figures.

"We talked about who we want to be today," Wade said. "We want to be at team that's hard to play against. We want to be known as a winning team and when you come into our house, we want to represent that."