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August 23 is memorable for a variety of reasons. Let the record show that in 2013 on that date the Chicago Bears defeated the Oakland Raiders in an exhibition game in which Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and the offense looked impressive, the Chicago Cubs scored six runs in the first inning in a game at San Diego that the Padres would rally to win 8-6, the Chicago White Sox had their six-game winning streak end in an 11-5 loss at home to the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Bandits defeated the USSSA Pride 3-2 at the Ballpark in Rosemont to move within one victory of a National Pro Fastpich championship, the Chicago Sky defeated the New York Liberty 82-64 to clinch a WNBA playoff berth for the first time in franchise history, and your humble correspondent celebrated another wedding anniversary.
In the pink: Swin Cash is back in the WNBA postseason — a first for the Chicago Sky franchise.
Let the record also show that the aforementioned events are not necessarily listed in order of importance.
Thanks to an understanding spouse, yours truly attended the Sky game at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Hey, it’s not every day the Sky makes the playoffs. In fact, this is the first time in the eight-year history of the franchise.
Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and seven rebounds, Swin Cash and Elena Delle Donne 11 each and Courtney Vandersloot 10 with seven assists for the Sky (19-8). Plenette Pierson had 25 for the Liberty (10-16), which was outscored 29-12 in the third period after the Sky led 38-35 at halftime.
“It feels good,” Fowles said of reaching the postseason. “Just thinking about from training camp to the first preseason game and just knowing what you have around you. All these good players that we are surrounded by just make it all so much better to be on this team and to have this opportunity with this group of young women.
“Playoff is the first step. Now we put ourselves in a position where we can have the best record in the East, best overall record. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say it wasn’t on the radar but for us this is really about taking every game at a time. If we win the rest of our games, we control our destiny; and that’s the way I look at it.”
Of the Sky’s third-quarter dominance that enabled starters Cash, Delle Donne, Fowles and Epiphanny Prince to sit out the fourth, while Vandersloot played 2:11 of the last quarter, Delle Donne said:
“We were determined. It started with our defense. Play your challenges and you won’t get stopped. We came out strong right from the get-go and then just establish what needs to be done. We were just very determined to come out strong.”
“We turned the ball over again in the third and fourth quarters, and that’s been to our detriment all year long,” Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said. “They just played harder than us in the third quarter. They made some shots and got the running game going and put a number on us.”
Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter, who has been bothered by a bruised left heel, had a season-low three points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field.
Cash, who has been on WNBA champions with Detroit and Seattle, made all five of her field-goal attempts — including a three-pointer.
“Playoffs is the first step,” she said. “Now we’ve put ourselves in the position where we could have the best record in the East, best overall record. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say [best record] wasn’t on the radar, but for us it’s really about taking every game at a time.”
Some postgame video for your perusal:
Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video staffs at elliottharris.com and their commitment to excellence — not to mention their generous definition of “gratuitous”):
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