New York Liberty strike late to stun Chicago Sky 59-49 – WNBA Recap
On Thursday night, New York Liberty limited Chicago Sky to a league-record one point in the last quarter to walk away with a 59-49 victory at Prudential Center. It was the second consecutive victory for Chicago and fourth in their previous six games.
Led by Cappie Pondexter with 15 points three assists and two steals, New York had three players who scored in double figures on the night. Nicole Powell paced Liberty with 13 points, including seven of them in the fourth period, and a game-high 10 rebounds. Essence Carson came off the bench with 11 points and three assists in the victory.
Sylvia Fowles was the only player for Chicago who reached the double figures. Fowles punctuated 11 points, shooting 5 for 8 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and stole the ball twice in Chicago’s second straight loss.
New York shot 37.5 percent (24- for 64) from the field and 87.5 percent (7 for 8) from free throw line. Sky on the other hand, shot 34 percent (18 for 53) from the floor and 70.6 percent (12 for 17) from the line. Chicago also committed 22 turnovers while New York committed just 15.
Sky were solid upfront and managed to take an 18-10 lead into the second quarter. New York opened the second quarter on a 10-4 run and trimmed Chicago’s lead to just two, 22-20, with 02:22 left in the frame. Fowles then drove to the rim and stretched Sky’s lead to four, before Carson responded with a three point play to make it one-point contest.
However, Fowles once again scored a lay-up in the closing seconds as Chicago held three-point lead at halftime.
Chicago and New York finally began to show signs of life on offense in the third quarter and scored 22 and 20 points respectively. Sky eventually pushed their lead to five points, heading into the fourth.
Liberty got off to a lightning-quick start in the fourth quarter. They just took over the game and completely hounded Sky on the defence to inflict a 16-1 decision and seal their 12th victory of this season.
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