Sylvia Fowles leads Chicago Sky past Washington Mystics 84-77 – WNBA Recap
Centre Sylvia Fowles scored a team-high 23 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 7-for-8 from free throw line, as the Chicago Sky beat the Washington Mystics 84-77 on Saturday night at the Verizon Center.
The current general manager and head coach of Chicago, Pokey Chatman, praised the sizzling performance of Fowles and said, "We had good floor spacing," "When they didn't come with a double team at (Fowles), she got to work.”
Guard Epiphanny Prince scored 20 points while forward Cathrine Kraayeveld chipped in with added 19 points and a career-high six three-pointers in the second consecutive victory for Sky, who shot 60 percent from the field.
Guard Matee Ajavon added a game-high 24 points and grabbed five rebounds and four assists for the Mystics, who defeated the Eastern Conference champion Atlanta Dream 98-90 in overtime on Thursday night.
Guard Kelly Miller had 15 points, forward-centre Crystal Langhorne added 14 points, and Marissa Coleman scored all 13 of her points in the second half of their home opener.
Chicago opened the first quarter with a brisk 4-0 blitz and stretched it up to 16-9 advantage with 04:23 to go in the quarter. Prince scored half of her 20 points in the opening quarter as the Sky held an impressive 25-13 lead
after 12 minutes.
Fowles acknowledged the great start of her team and said, "We got off to a good start and that got us off to a good tone on the court."
Trailing by 12 points after one, the Mystics’ continued to struggle in the second quarter. Chicago, on the other hand, carried on with the same momentum and extended their lead to 51-33 at halftime.
The Mystics fought hard in the third quarter and outscored Sky 24-15 to make a comeback. However, Chicago still maintained a 66-57 when the quarter ended. Washington kept on pressing in the fourth quarter and did not allow the
Sky to blow away till the very last minute. However, Chicago went on a 3-0 run in the last 24 seconds to seal the game in their favour.
After a poor performance in the Women National Basketball Association (WNBA) season 2010, in which they finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Chicago have been terrific at the start of this season.
Tags: