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Chicago Sky

Sky Bested by Minnesota

July 17, 2015 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


ROSEMONT - The Chicago Sky (9-6) fell to the Western Conference leading Minnesota Lynx (11-3) 84-66 at the Target Center on Friday night. Jessica Breland led the Sky with 17 points along with 11 rebounds for her first double- double of the season followed by 14 points from Elena Delle Donne. Despite being tied at the half, a scoring outburst by the Lynx in the third quarter allowed Minnesota to extend an 18-point lead and eventually hand the Sky its first loss in two weeks.

The Sky started a perfect 4-for-4 from the field as seven different players scored in the first quarter. Pondexter picked up right where she left off in the past two games scoring four points in the early going while Quigley came in off the bench on fire as she added seven points in her first four minutes of action. Lynx guard Anna Cruz stepped up in place of an injured Seimone Augustus contributing six points in the first. The Sky would lead by as much as ten until the Lynx came back in the final minutes of the quarter to bring the Sky lead to 21-15.

Chicago struggled from the field in the second quarter shooting just 33% giving the Lynx an opportunity to get back in the game. After going scoreless in the first, Lindsay Whalen put the Lynx ahead as she poured in 10 points in the second quarter. By halftime, the game was knotted at 34-34. Delle Donne and Quigley combined for 18 first half points to lead Chicago while Cruz led Minnesota with 12.

The Sky started the second half 5-for-5 from the field and used a 6-0 run early in the 3rd quarter to regain the lead 46-43, however that would be their only lead for the remainder of the night. The Lynx responded with 18 unanswered points of their own to extend a 15-point lead (46-61). Despite making their first five shots of the third, Chicago was unable to connect on a field goal in the final 6:28 of the third. They were outscored 23-2 to close the quarter as Minnesota led by 18 at the end of the third (66-48).

Jessica Breland helped the Sky chip away at the lead as she scored five points in the fourth quarter however the Sky could not find an answer for Maya Moore who finished with a game-high 29 points as the Lynx cruised to an 84-66 victory. Breland turned in her best performance of the 2015 season with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Sky.

"It's definitely frustrating when you feel like you're getting the looks that you want and just not able to knock them down," said Delle Donne. "In the end, we can't let our offense dictate our defense, and it did."

The Sky will look to bounce back as they return home to take on the San Antonio Stars on Sunday, July 19th at Allstate Arena. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. CT on The U Too.

Postgame Notes:

Chicago Sky 66, Minnesota Lynx 84

Notes

Jessica Breland's 17 points was a team high and individual season high. Her previous high was seven points at San Antonio on 6/19/15. Breland had season-highs in points (17), field goals attempted (14) and field goals made (7).

Breland's 17 points and 11 rebounds was her first double-double of the 2015 season.

Clarissa Dos Santos' game-high 13 rebounds marked a season high. Her previous high was ten rebounds at San Antonio on 6/19/15.

Elena Delle Donne was held to 14 points. Through the last five games Delle Donne has averaged 14.6 PPG after averaging 28.7 PPG in the first ten games of the season.

Tonight's 84-66 win over the Chicago Sky marks the fifth straight win over Chicago at Target Center and ends the Sky's four-game winning streak. Minnesota finishes the season series 1-1 against Chicago.

In the July 10 meeting at Chicago, the Sky outscored Minnesota 15-4 in fast-break points. The Lynx turned things around tonight, outscoring Chicago 20-2 that category, including 11-0 in the first half. Minnesota has outscored its last three opponents 62-19 in fast-break points.

Making her first start in a Lynx jersey, Anna Cruz made her presence known by filling up the stat sheet. She finished tonight's contest with 16 points (7-for-10), eight rebounds and five assists. Cruz was matched up against Chicago's Cappie Pondexter who scored 24 points the last time Minnesota faced the Sky and Cruz held her to just four points tonight. Pondexter entered tonight's game averaging 17.6 points and posted

After finishing with a season-high 29 points at Chicago last week, Maya Moore followed up that performance by matching her season-high with 29 points. Tonight marked her 60th career 20+ point game, including her sixth straight 20+ game and eighth of the season. Moore entered tonight's game averaging 23.8 points on 53.0% shooting, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists over her last five games.

The Lynx trailed 46-43 at the 6:28 mark in third quarter and then went on a 23-2 run to take a 66-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter to lead the rest of the game. Minnesota held the Sky to 35.6% (26-for-73) from the field and is now 7-0 this season when holding its opponent below 40%. The Lynx have now won 67 of its past 68 games when keeping the opposition below 40%. The Lynx are also 7-0 when holding the opposition under 70 points and move to 51-3 all-time in that category.

QUOTES

Chicago Sky Head Coach and General Manager Pokey Chatman

(On the game...)

"They made shots and we didn't. We'll go back and evaluate the game and see that those shots we missed were quality shots. I'll take Quigley getting wide-open looks. I'll take the shot chart with some of the shots that were missed in the paint. We missed them in the first half and my challenge to the team was to make sure we get those same shots - we got them and didn't make them. That's not to take anything away from Minnesota because I'm not that coach who gets their butts kicked and makes excuses. We didn't make shots and they did."

(On Anna Cruz...)

"I'm so familiar with her from abroad, so we talked about it when we knew Seimone wasn't going to play. I used to have to guard her when she played in Spain all the time, so I tried to prepare for that, but converted to a point guard over here in America, we know she has two-guard mentality. She's new to this league, but she's not new to professional basketball. She just stepped up and took advantage of every opportunity to get them going early on."

(On the Lynx containing Delle Donne and Pondexter...)

"That's where everybody will look. Elena was 5-for-15, probably three of those shots weren't the highest quality for her. A lot of times, the reason other people are open is because of how they're scheming for Elena. The difference is, Breland got the wide-open shots."

Chicago Sky Guard/Forward Elena Delle Donne

(On the Lynx' third-quarter run...)

"I feel like we came out really strong and then we hit a wall even in the first half and kind of were never able to just get over that. We stopped being the aggressor and kind of just let them have their way with us and do basically whatever they wanted. That's the frustrating part, not being able to stop the run and get back to being the aggressor."

(On Chicago's shooting...)

"It's definitely frustrating when you feel like you're getting the looks that you want and just not able to knock them down - especially when they're going on runs - that's when you need to be able to hit certain shots to get yourself going again. In the end, we can't let our offense dictate our defense, and it did."

(On playing against Maya Moore and Anna Cruz...)

"You always know what you're going to get out of a player like Maya, but when someone like Cruz steps up, that's when things start to get a little bit more difficult. It was definitely tough."

Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve

"That was making lemonade out of lemons. With kind of tough news as of late - obviously Anna in her first start for the Lynx was absolutely terrific on both sides of the ball. She just gave us so much energy and determination that we fed off. I just thought from a team standpoint we did so many good things in throughout our personnel. Whether it was Anna's defense, Anna's offense, obviously Brunson we count on heavily, she can get in there to get rebounds. I thought Damiris, when she came in, we gave her a different look and we had her guard Delle Donne a little bit. I think Maya obviously, for the most part, both ends. It was just a really good team win. Tricia had her moments where I think Anna was able to get to the paint. We anticipated for it to be for Tricia if Anna could do that and collapse the defense, that we'd be able to find her in easy opportunities and she was able to knock them down."

"This Chicago team was playing great - is playing great, they're very much on a roll. Offensively, it seemed like every shot, they make all their shots. Cappie was shooting 80 percent from three over those last three games, so just really wanted to make a concerted effort that 'not here, not tonight, not in our house,' and I thought our team took it to heart. Our collective effort on defense was pretty good."

(On Anna Cruz...)

"I think how she played, that's her gear. She was just really determined and I thought that the matchup with Cappie was a really important one - really, really important."

Minnesota Lynx Center Asjha Jones

"We just made sure every shot they took was difficult. We got rebounds and were able to run on them."

(On facing Delle Donne and Pondexter...)

"Last time, we didn't give Cappie enough attention and we should have - that's how she got started. Tonight, we put a little bit more attention on her and made sure all her were difficult. From there, [Brunson] and Damiris did a great job on Delle Donne."

(On building from this game...)

"I'm always looking for my teammates first. Tonight, I got more opportunities to shoot the ball and eventually they started to go in.

Minnesota Lynx Guard Anna Cruz

(On fitting in and contributing...)

"I think it's easy to play with these kind of players. They are very good players, so it's easy for me to adjust to this kind of place."

"The last two years I was in Russia, so I think it's good for all the players to go and play a different mix."

"My English is not so good, but we can understand each other. We can communicate."

(On facing Pondexter...)

"I tried to break our defense and this is what coach told me, that I have to play hard. She was on fire last weekend, so I just tried to be in front of her every time."

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