Jia Perkins and Candice Dupree led the Sky to a win over the Atlanta Dream Sunday night, 79-66, with 18 points each.
Chasity Melvin had 10 points, Tye’sha Fluker added 8, and K.B. Sharp and Armintie Price each had 7. Dupree also had 4 steals along with her 18 points.
The Sky came out solid and never looked back. In the 1st, Chicago went on a 13-2 run to end the period 21-6. By the 2nd, Dupree and Price lit it up to lead the Sky on a 13-2 run to close the half 44-17.
“We came out with a lot of energy tonight,” Perkins said. “We made a run at the beginning and then just took it on from there. We were pretty excited about that and our defense was key for that run.”
With 4:16 left in the 3rd, Price hit a free throw to give Chicago their biggest lead yet, 56-26.
By the 4th, Atlanta finally got into to gear and outscored Chicago 30-17 but it was a little to late to go for a win. Chicago held on for the victory, 79-66.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to smile,” said coach Steven Key. “We created better spacing tonight.”
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Chicago handed the Atlanta Dream their first win on Saturday night, 91-84.
Jia Perkins led the Sky with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Candice Dupree added 19 points.
Dominique Canty, who contributed 10 points, said that the loss hurt more than the others because they didn’t want to be the first team to lose to the Dream.
The game was exciting, going down to the last few minutes. In the first quarter the Sky had a 13-point lead but the Dream overcame that deficit and gained an 11 point lead by half time, 46-35.
In the second half, Atlanta was relentless. They were hitting all their shots and never gave up. By the fourth quarter, Chicago had gained a 1 point lead, 81-80, with less than 2 minutes left to play. But a few Chicago fouls later, Atlanta had a solid lead making a 6 point run to win, 91-84.
“We have to finish plays,” Sky coach Steven Key said. “There were several factors that contributed tonight, not just not getting rebound after missed free throws. We just couldn’t finish.”
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The Chicago Sky are beginning to adjust to life without 6-foot-6 rookie center Sylvia Fowles.
Candice Dupree had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead Chicago past the Minnesota Lynx, 73-71 on Tuesday night.
Jia Perkins had 20 points and made a crucial late 3-pointer for the Sky, who have won consecutive games after a five-game losing streak. Chasity Melvin, starting in place of the injured Fowles, added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Fowles, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft, hasn’t played since spraining a knee June 3.
“It takes a little bit of time to make an adjustment because Sylvia is such a presence there,” said coach Steven Key. “Although we only had her five games, they had to make the adjustment and so did we. But the biggest thing is, about a week-and-a-half ago, I told them there are no new plays, nothing coming from me. They have to take ownership of it.
“I think they are starting to realize it’s them, not me.”
With the teams tied at 67-67, Perkins made a wide-open 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining. Candice Wiggins hit a driving lay-up, but Dupree finished the scoring with a driving lay-up that she was able to spin off the backboard from a tough angle.
“I have no idea how it went in,” Dupree said. “I think it went in off the tip of my middle finger. I didn’t think it was going to go in, but it did. It was a big shot and we were able to get some good stops and get them to the free-throw line and force them to hit free throws.”
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