WNBA Chicago Sky

Postgame Notes: Chicago Sky 82, Minnesota Lynx 87

Published on July 5, 2016 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


Chicago (7-10) 30 21 17 14 82

Minnesota (15-3) 24 28 9 26 87

Postgame Notes

* Elena Delle Donne had her best scoring performance of the 2016 season, recording her second straight double-double, with 38 points and 10 rebounds. It was Delle Donne's sixth consecutive 20-point game. Over that six-game stretch, Delle Donne is averaging 28 points and eight boards on 54 percent shooting from the field and 55 percent from deep. * Courtney Vandersloot exited the game in the first quarter with an injured ankle and did not return. She missed three games earlier this season from an ankle injury.

* Vandersloot was replaced by Jamierra Faulkner who responded by scoring four points and dishing out four assists in less than seven minutes of play to close out the opening period. Faulkner finished with a season-best 18 points and seven assists. * Delle Donne and Faulkner were the only two Sky players to score in double figures. They combined for 56 of Chicago's 82 points or 68 percent of Chicago's total offense.

* Cappie Pondexter struggled from the field hitting 1-of-10 shots. She is shooting just 16 percent over her last three contests.

* Delle Donne scored 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first half. She hit 10 consecutive shots from a span between the 5:49 mark in the second quarter and the 3:43 mark of third.

* Chicago's six made three-pointers tied a season-high. The Sky also shot a season-best 95.7 percent from the free throw line (previous high was 94.1 percent on June 14, 2016). * The Sky bench outscored the Lynx bench by a 32-6 margin, propelled by Faulkner's 18 points. * Chicago will begin its four-game homestand Friday, July 8 when they host the New York Liberty. * Minnesota led by as many as nine points (13-4) at the 7:30 mark in the first quarter before Chicago went on a 27-11 run the rest of the way to take a 30-24 lead into the second quarter. * The Lynx improve to 15-3 with tonight's victory, matching their best record ever through 18 games. Minnesota also opened 15-3 in 2013 while starting 14-4 in each of 2011, 2012 and 2015, and 13-5 in 2014. The Lynx complete their first three-game homestand of the season with a 2-1 record; the next (and final) three-game run begins Aug. 28 vs. Seattle. * Minnesota has now won six of its last seven meetings with Chicago (including a 97-80 victory on May 18 at Allstate Arena) and six in a row at Target Center since the Sky's 73-58 triumph on May 29, 2010. The teams will conclude their three-game season series on Sept. 13 in Chicago. * Maya Moore led the Lynx with 33 points, shooting 12-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-9 from deep. Tonight marked her 19th career 30-plus point game of her career and second this season (34 points -May 25 at Phoenix). She also grabbed six rebounds and three steals. * Seimone Augustus finished in double-digits for the first time since June 21 at Los Angeles, scoring 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She entered tonight's game hitting 32.1 percent (18-for-56) in her last seven contests, following a five-game run at 50.9 percent. * The Lynx spotted Chicago a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter and trailed 68-61 entering the fourth. It's the third time this season Minnesota has overcome a double-digit deficit to win (June 7 vs. Phoenix, June 19 at Seattle). The Lynx improve to 2-2 when trailing after three, having gone 4-12 in that category a year ago. * Minnesota enjoyed a 20-2 advantage on the break, its fourth game with 20+ points and second against the Sky (21-5 on May 18). In addition, Chicago's two points are a single-game low by a Lynx opponent this season. Minnesota now leads the WNBA in fast-break scoring at 13.1 ppg. * The Lynx held Chicago to 39.1 percent (27-for-69) from the field, winning their 29th straight game when holding their opponent to under 40 percent shooting. Minnesota is 6-0 this year when doing so and 78-1 since the start of 2011. * Lindsay Whalen contributed 11 points for the Lynx, leaving her four points shy of 5000 for her WNBA career. * Sylvia Fowles had 15 points and six rebounds for Minnesota. She had 24 points and 13 rebounds during the Lynx's May 18th victory in Chicago. * Janel McCarville had a season-high six assists off the bench for the Lynx.

QUOTES

Chicago Sky Head Coach and General Manager Pokey Chatman

(On the difference between playing Minnesota tonight versus the first time this season...)

"That seems like three seasons ago. I think both teams have gotten better as the season progressed. I think we're a bit more solid defensively but still inconsistent. A 51-point, half and you come in at half and you hold them to a nine-point quarter, and then you can't sustain that and have a 26-point quarter. So, I think we need to be more consistent on the defensive end of the floor."

(On the performances of Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne...)

"They're great players. Maya's an MVP. Elena is an MVP. They're Olympians. Their play is different but it's still impactful. To know that the other team is scheming for you and you still have the ability to be relevant and also be damn good, it speaks volume for your play."

(On what Chicago has to do differently moving forward...)

"Got New York on Friday. We have to rest. We need to watch the video and eliminate those hollow possessions. We need to be a little bit more consistent on the defensive end of the floor to make people work a little harder for things."

Chicago Sky Forward Elena Delle Donne | 38 points, 10 rebounds

(On playing against Maya Moore...)

"She's amazing and at any point Maya can go off and be Maya. I feel like we did a good job containing mostly everyone else though and they're such a good team that one of them is going to go off at some point and you need to contain everyone else."

(On the adjustments playing Minnesota for a second time this season...)

"Our offense has improved a lot. Back then, we were playing selfish defense and weren't helping one another and I do feel like we are getting somewhere and improving, but that one tonight stings. You know we let them have 26 points in the fourth quarter and they're too good to allow that."

Chicago Sky Guard Jamierra Faulkner| 18 points, 7 assists

(On being able to score tonight...)

"Just using the middle of the floor tonight. Using high pick and rolls and scoring off of that."

(On what changed going into tonight's game...)

"We just wanted to stop Sylvia Fowles from getting the wrap-arounds and trying to not let Maya [Moore] get in transition and have open threes."

Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve

(Opening statement...)

"I told our team at halftime in particular, it was a fun game to be a part of, I think both teams are playing really well. Second half, I think both teams had a little fatigue set in for sure. We had people playing more minutes than probably each of us wanted to, but I just thought it was a great game. It was a great game for national TV - two marquee players on a big stage, Maya [Moore] and obviously [Elena] Delle Donne getting 24 in the first half. I thought we did a great job adjusting, coming out in the second half making things much more difficult. When Maya had a chance to guard [Delle Donne], it really got Maya going. It got her kind of amped up for the challenge. I don't know how many Delle Donne ended up scoring against Maya - it wasn't very much and then Maya got going offensively which was really, really important for us."

(On Maya's two-way game...)

"I think it is hard for sure, but I think it allowed Maya to really increase her focus on what she was doing. I think it was actually helpful to us for her to have to do that. It wasn't necessarily what we wanted to do in the game, but obviously we had to get to that point where we had to make an adjustment and it worked out well for us."

Minnesota Lynx Guard Lindsay Whalen | 11 points, 4 assists

(On Janel McCarville's game...)

"That was another difference-maker along with some shot-making and Seimone's [Augustus] whole game. That was one of the difference-makers, Janel's passing and her facilitating was really spot on. From the behind-the-back to Seimone all the way to the give-and-go with me, she was a huge difference-maker.

(On playing Elena Delle Donne in the second half...)

"She was trying to get closer and we have three defenders that obviously took to the challenge and she's a great player. She's got length, but we made the plays that we had to and give her credit, she had a great game, but between Maya [Moore] and Brunson, we were able to get stops there down the stretch."

Minnesota Lynx Forward Rebekkah Brunson | 6 points, 8 rebounds

(On the game...)

"I just felt like there were opportunities for us to play the defense that we were planning on playing throughout the entire game. We just used pressure to make things difficult for [Elena Delle Donne] and came up big."

"It was a good stretch - I was rested. I was sitting down with the foul trouble so I got a little break. I just wanted to go out there and play hard for the last couple of minutes."

(On Elena Delle Donne...)

"[Delle Donne] was their leading scorer throughout the night, so you can kind of assume that they're going to try to go to her. Really, I was just trying to make it difficult for her and it worked. It worked out for us."

"I think on the second half, we did a lot better on her defensively. In the first half, she started going - she had 25, so at that point we were just trying to put the fire out. I think that throughout the second half we did a better job on her."

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