Turnovers the difference as Indiana beats Sky again
Number 7 wasn't so lucky for the Chicago Sky.
And, in search of its first home win of the season on Wednesday afternoon, the Sky could have used some luck.
But costly turnovers in crunchtime sent the Sky down a familiar path as the Indiana Fever escaped Allstate Arena with an 82-75 win on Camp Day, which drew a sellout crowd of 10,197 mostly young fans. The Sky, which had 17 turnovers in the game, is now at 0-7 on the season at home and 3-11 overall.
Indiana, coached by former Sky coach Pokey Chatman, is 7-7 on the season.
"Every game feels the same," said Sky first-year coach Amber Stocks when asked if there is mounting pressure to get a win at home. "However, we have a great fan base. Our fans, the city does a great job of supporting us, so for that, yes, I would love to give the fans a great chance to see us win at home."
Indiana got double-figure scoring from five players, starting with 17 points from former Sky star Candice Dupree. Guard Erica Wheeler had 13 points for Indiana while center Erlana Larkins added 12 points and point guard Briann January finished with 10.
The Sky dominated points in the paint (50-34), second-chance points (20-4) and rebounds (48-25), and led at halftime (34-33).
"We try to get all the rebounds we can," said Sky forward Jessica Breland, who poured in a season- and game-high 22 points while pulling down 9 rebounds and blocking 3 shots. She ranks sixth in the WNBA in blocks. "We didn't want them to get second-chance points. One and done. For the most part, we did a really good job with that. It was just the turnovers."
The Sky was outscored by 5 points in the third quarter and the Fever stole some control by turning Sky mistakes into points, 21 points on the game.
"I have to start with myself first. Five (turnovers) is just way too many," said Sky veteran Cappie Pondexter, now in her 12th season. "You've got to look at yourself and we've just got to clean some things up."
The Sky is second in turnovers per game (16.5), behind winless San Antonio (16.7).
The Sky had only two other scorers in double-figures after Breland. Pondexter had 13 points and center Imani Boyette, starting for an ill Stefanie Dolson, had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"After a tough loss, you've got to think about a lot of things," Pondexter said. "You've got to make sure that the next day, the energy changes. You've got to come in with the mindset of staying positive and just keep working hard. At the end of the day, hard work always pays off."