Briann January propels Indiana Fever to an 81-64 win over Chicago Sky – WNBA Recap
Briann January dropped 19 points as she led Indiana Fever to an 81-64 win over Chicago Sky on Saturday night and helped them extend their winning streak to five games.
Tamika Catchings also had a good game as she recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Douglas also added 17 points. Both Catchings and Douglas shot the ball 6 of 14 from the floor individually but were flawless
from the free throw line as the combined to shoot 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
Epiphanny Prince carried the Chicago charge with 22 points and Carolyn Swords came off the bench with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Lecoe Willingham also carried the bench scoring well with 12 points.
The whole of Indiana’s roster converted 45.3 % of their chances from the field while Chicago Sky were slightly behind as they managed to shoot 41.1%.
One thing that worked in favour of Indiana was their ability to get to the stripe as they converted 18 out of 19 free throws in the game. Another thing which completely turned the tide in favour of Indiana was Chicago’s inability
to take care of the ball. Sky had 20 turnovers and they were duly punished for their mistakes which came at critical junctures of the game.
Courtney Vandersloot was the biggest culprit as she committed 7 turnovers and could only managed 2 points.
Chicago got off to a great start, racing to a 6-0 lead early. They continued to play well in the opening stanza took a double figure advantage with 4:43 remaining in the period. However, Indiana managed to cut the lead down with
a strong 13-5 run courtesy of a series of three pointers from Christmas and Catchings.
An 8-0 to start the second period saw Indiana completely turn the game on its head but a quick 6-0 response from Chicago made the scores level. But that was about the only resistance Chicago could offer in the game. In the last
4:45 minutes of the first half, the Fever formulated a 19-5 run and took a 45-31 lead into the interval.
The last two quarters were merely a formality for the Indiana team who got their scoring tally ticking slowly. By staying equally competitive rest of the way, the Fever even managed to outscore their opponents 18-16 in the third
quarter and18-17 in the final frame.
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