Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas star as Indiana Fever hold off the Chicago Sky 88-80: WNBA Recap
On Sunday night at Allstate Arena, Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas racked up 17 points each as Indiana Fever snapped their three-game losing streak with an 88-80 victory over Chicago Sky. With this win, Fever restored a half-game
lead on the second-placed Connecticut Sun in the Eastern Conference with just three games to go in the playoffs.
“We have been a first place team, but Connecticut is on a run here,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said after the game. “ We have a lot of teams playing really well, so we really needed to win this game tonight, plus we were coming off
some tough losses.”
Catchings also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists while Douglas ended the game with six rebounds. Erin Phillips also contributed 16 points and two steals and centre Jessica Davenport came off the bench with 14 points
on a 6 for 10 shooting from the field.
It was second consecutive defeat for the Sky, who have lost five of their previous ten games. Epiphanny Prince came off the bench with 21 points, six assists and two steals to lead Chicago. Prince shot 7 for 15 from the field and
5 for 6 from free throw line while Sylvia Fowles scored 15 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists on the night.
Tamera Young tallied 12 points for Sky, who were eliminated from playoff contention earlier Sunday when Atlanta Dream clinched the East's fourth and final playoff berth with a victory over WNBA-worse this season, Tulsa Shock.
Indiana shot 54.5 percent (30 for 55) from the field, 75 percent (9 for 12) from three-point and 86.4 percent (19 for 22) from free throw line. Chicago, on the other hand, shot only 50 percent (32 for 64) from the floor, 33.3 percent
(4 for 12) beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (12 for 18) from the line.
Indiana made a solid start and held an 18-16 lead with 03:22 to go in the first quarter before Chicago scored eight straight points and went ahead by 24-18. Erin Phillips drove to the rim to cut Fever’s lead to four but Kraayeveld
scored a lay-up to stretch Chicago lead back to six points. Indiana however managed to make it a one point game (26-25) in the ensuing passage as Douglas punctuated five consecutive points in the last minute of the quarter.
The see saw battle continued in the second half. With the score tied at 49 and 01:40 remaining in the second quarter, Catchings hit a jumper to put Chicago ahead by 51-49 at halftime.
Indiana outscored Sky 21-15 in the third quarter and stretched their lead to eight points, 72-64. Chicago made a comeback in the fourth quarter and trimmed their deficit to one, 79-78, with 04:15 remaining in the quarter. However,
Indiana reeled off a late 9-2 run to seal the victory.
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