Sky Complete Season Sweep Of Fever
August 4, 2015 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release
ROSEMONT- The Chicago Sky (13-8) defeated the Indiana Fever (11-9) 106-82 on Tuesday night at Allstate Arena. The Sky's 106 points set a new franchise-high for regulation as six players scored in double-figures. With tonight's win, Chicago completed the regular season sweep (4-0) of the Fever for the first time in franchise history.
The Fever got off to a quick start, taking a 12-6 lead with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter. The Sky answered with Elena Delle Donne who delivered 11 first-quarter points, including eight in the final three minutes to give the Sky a 31-22 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Sky picked up right where they left off in the first, starting the second quarter on a 14-3 run, led by six points from Jamierra Faulkner. Forward Tamera Young scored four points in the second quarter and Cappie Pondexter knocked down a jumper with 1.1 seconds left to give the Sky a 57-40 lead at halftime. Delle Donne led all scorers with 14 points as Chicago shot a season-high 71.9% from the field in the first half.
The Sky began the third quarter on a 9-0 run, capitalizing on Indiana's early turnovers and a technical foul call on Fever forward Tamika Catchings. Betnijah Laney provided instant offense for the Sky, scoring eight third-quarter points off the bench. The Sky led 84-57 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Sky maintained a sizable lead throughout the fourth quarter, never letting the Fever get within 22 points, to cruise by the Fever 106-82. Every active player on the Sky roster scored and Chicago's bench accounted for a season-high 50 points in the contest.
Several Sky players scored in double-figures including Delle Donne (19), Faulkner (16), Pondexter (14), Young (14), Laney (12) and de Souza (10). The Sky shot a season-high 63.2% from the field in the contest, the best single game shooting percentage in a WNBA game this season. The team also recorded a season-high 28 assists. Maggie Lucas led Indiana with 14 points.
"We had six players in double-figures. That makes you hard to beat," said Sky Head Coach and General Manager Pokey Chatman. "No starter played more than 23 minutes. They will enjoy this until breakfast tomorrow morning and then we have the best team in our conference coming in here that we have to get ready for on Friday."
The Sky will return to action on Friday, August 7th again in their pink uniforms as they take on the New York Liberty for the second game of Breast Health Awareness Week at Allstate Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm CT.
Postgame Notes:
Chicago Sky 106, Indiana Fever 82
Notes
For the first time in franchise history, Chicago completed a regular season sweep of the Indiana Fever (4-0).The Sky scored a season-high 106 points, a new franchise record for points in regulation. Chicago previously scored 105 points vs. New York on 6/18/14. The Sky's final shooting percentage of 63.2 percent and 106 total points are both season-highs in the WNBA. Chicago's 57 first half points and 31 first quarter points are both season-highs. The Sky's 71.9 percent first half shooting was the best in a half by a WNBA team since Los Angeles shot 73.5 percent in the first half against New York on July 4, 2013. Chicago became just the third team ever to shoot at least 70 percent in both quarters of a half. The only previous occasions were July 10, 2012 when Minnesota eclipsed 70 percent in the third and fourth quarters against Tulsa; and June 18, 2006 when Los Angeles shot over 70 percent both quarters of the second half against Sacramento.Chicago improves to 9-2 on the season at home. That mark is the best home record in the WNBA.The Sky recorded a season-high 28 assists.The Sky tied a franchise record 13 blocks.Chicago's bench scored a season-high 50 points.Jamierra Faulkner scored a season-high 16 points, Tamera Young scored a season-high 14 points, Betnijah Laney scored a season-high 12 points and Elena Delle Donne dished out a season-high six assists.With 11 points tonight, Shenise Johnson has now scored double-digits points in nine of her last 10 games.Maggie Lucas' 14 points is her first double-digits effort since 6/19 at New York when she scored 23 points.Natasha Howard scored a season-high 13 points. Her previous high was nine points vs. Connecticut on 6/30. Tamika Catchings played a season-low 16 minutes. Her previous-low was 20 minutes vs. Washington on 6/20.
QUOTES
Sky Head Coach and General Manager Pokey Chatman
(On what she was most impressed with tonight...)
"I was most impressed with so many people playing a lot of minutes, handling man-to-man, handling trap defenses and zone defenses. It was nice to see the younger players handle that. That's a much needed win against a good team on our home court."
(On the team effort tonight...)
"We had six players in double-figures. That makes you hard to beat. No starter played more than 23 minutes. They will enjoy this until breakfast tomorrow morning and then we have the best team in our conference coming in here that we have to get ready for on Friday."
(On what Tamera Young did well tonight...)
"Everything. She allows us to play different defensively. She allows us to switch because she can play the two, three or four. She does a lot of things that may not show up on the stat sheet."
(On the play of Courtney Vandersloot...)
"She has a really good pace. She knows when to go fast, medium or slow. She has so many options around her. She has herself, she has Elena [Delle Donne], she has Cappie [Pondexter], and she has post players that are ducking in and speed players that run the lane. She's utilizing all that. [Courtney Vandersloot] is tough and we've been successful because she knows how to share the basketball."
Chicago Sky Forward Tamera Young
(On getting extended minutes tonight since coming back...)
"It was a great feeling being out for the first time in so long and to actually get some action in with my teammates."
(On what she learned from the bench about her team...)
"The chemistry. One thing was the younger players stepping up. They grew up a lot in a short period of time so that's one of the big things."
(On transferring information to her team from the bench...)
"When I would see things I would talk to each one [player] individually of what I could help them with but I think just the growth of playing together was them mostly."
Chicago Sky Guard/Forward Betnijah Laney
(On her offensive production tonight...)
"It was a great feeling. Everybody wants to score of course, but just me being out there and getting with the flow and just being able to produce was a great feeling."
(On the vibe from bench scoring and support tonight...)
"I think even from the beginning of the season and the first game the bench has always been like that. We've always been supportive of one another. It doesn't matter if you play 30 minutes or 30 seconds; everyone has their role on the team and everyone is just as important. We can't be down on the bench just because we're on the bench. We're just as important so we need to bring energy and have it transfer into everyone that's playing."
(On having more confidence due to extended playing time...)
"I appreciate games like this as well as the tough games. I've been in games where it's been tough and different situations. I'm just going out there to do everything I can for the team."
Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White
(On the game plan for their fourth game against Chicago...)
"We want to try to make everything as difficult as possible for them [Chicago Sky]. They're a very good team who can certainly be in the finals competing for a WNBA Championship. We just want to make everything difficult for them on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively we wanted to play our game and push tempo. We didn't execute on either end of the floor, and a lot of the credit has to go to Chicago."
(On the team's difficulty with perimeter defense...)
"I think it starts with our defensive mentality. We came out with low energy, not paying attention to detail on little things like our defensive closeouts. It all starts with a mentality. When we have the mentality we're a tough team to beat, and when we don't, we struggle. It was a combination of us not being ready and Chicago being a hot team."
Indiana Fever Guard Maggie Lucas
(On her three-point shooting...)
"I was just trying to provide a little energy. My teammates put me in really good situations and found me in really good spots."
(On team improvements for next game...)
"Our defensive scheme [needs to improve]. We definitely weren't all on the same page. [We can fix that] with communication."
Indiana Fever Forward Marissa Coleman
(On how the game slipped away in the first quarter...)
"It comes down to our defense, and that's what we've been talking about. It seems like every game that we lose it's on us. It's us not knowing our schemes, us not having each other's backs on defense. It's something we have to work on."
(On her mentality going forward...)
"We just have to have a short term memory with this one. We have another game on Friday, so we just need to get back to Indiana, forget about this one and get ready for Friday."
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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 4, 2015
- Sky Complete Season Sweep Of Fever - Chicago Sky
- Chicago Shoots Way Past Indiana, 106-82 - Indiana Fever
- Achonwa to Represent Canada in FIBA Americas Championships, August 9-16 - Indiana Fever
- Minnesota Lynx Sign Shae Kelley to Second Seven-Day Contract - Minnesota Lynx
- New York Liberty Center Tina Charles Named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month - New York Liberty
- Lynx Forward Maya Moore Named Western Conference Player of the Month - Minnesota Lynx
- Charles, Moore Named WNBA Players of the Month Presented by Samsung - WNBA
- WNBA Cares and Bright Pink Join Forces for WNBA Breast Health Awareness Week - WNBA
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