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Elena Delle Donne had a good game Wednesday — in the second quarter alone. The Chicago Sky rookie had 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field (including two three-point shots and a pair of free throws). That performance helped rally the Sky from an early double-digit deficit for an 87-74 victory against the New York Liberty at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
Stop the presses (or whatever they do in cyberspace)! Elena Delle Donne missed a free throw Wednesday against the New York Liberty.
Delle Donne, the No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA draft, outscored the Liberty in the second quarter 16-12 after New York led 30-15 after one quarter. Shay Murphy added nine of her season-high 13 points off the bench in the second quarter when the Sky outscored New York 29-12 for a 44-42 halftime lead.
An announced sellout crowd of 8,911 (comprised mostly of schoolchildren) witnessed the Sky (6-3) keep its home record perfect (4-0), as Delle Donne and center Sylvia Fowles each had six points in the fourth quarter, when the Sky outscored New York 25-13. Delle Donne added three assists in the final period, even though she played only 6:19 after being on the court for 8:54 in the first and all 10 in the second and third quarters. And that 35:13 of playing time was second on the team to 38:38 for Fowles, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds (seven on the offensive boards).
Delle Donne finished with a career-high 26 points (OK, so it’s a brief career at the moment and bigger games undoubtedly are ahead, but it’s still a career high) to break the team’s rookie record for a game. Let the record also show Delle Donne did something she rarely does: miss a free throw. She entered the game having made 45-of47 attempts. She made 4-of-5 Wednesday with the miss coming on what could have been a three-point play with 1:34 left in the game. She did have a four-point play in the second quarter.1
“Delle Donne made some big tough shots,” Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said. “We’re all over her, made some big shots in traffic got them right back in the game, got their confidence going.”
Of the enthusiastic crowd, Delle Donne said: “It was amazing. There were points where we were trying to get a call and couldn’t hear anything. They definitely lifted our spirits, especially after the slow start. They were great.”
Not quite as great as Delle Donne and her teammates in the second quarter that featured something even more impressive than Delle Donne’s offensive output: no Sky turnovers. The Sky finished with five turnovers to 17 for the Liberty (4-4).
“It really started with defense,” Delle Donne said of the second-quarter comeback. “Our defense is what propels us forward. We came out way too slow in the first quarter and allowed them to score 30 points. That’s not Sky defense. Coach [Pokey Chatman] got into us a little bit. We decided to grit down and get after it and then that makes our offense flow so much better.”
Flowing in the third quarter was Sky forward Swin Cash, who went 3-for-5 from the field for her only points of the game. She moved into 15th place all-time on the WNBA scoring list. She had been tied with Sue Bird at 4,458. Epiphanny Prince had 14 points for the SKy with a pair of steals.
“It was several people,” Chatman said of the Sky’s defensive effort — after the first period. “It was a lot of deflections. It was four possessions in a row — maybe three in a row where we turned them over. Then in the fourth we had four deflections. And it was people who are normally known as shooters. Elena gets a block, Shay gets a steal, someone gets a tip. … That’s something we want to build on because I know the team that’s coming in here on Saturday [Los Angeles Sparks], and they’re very good offensively so we better make sure we’re dialing it up from the beginning.”
“It’s not like we weren’t playing hard, but we weren’t playing good defense,” Fowles said of the team’s slow start. “We got all the offense stuff that we needed, but our defense was really sucky. Swin got us together and said some words and then we just knew we needed to go out there a do what we do best — and that’s defense.”
Chicago native Cappie Pondexter led the Liberty with 21 points.
“Nobody is happy with loosing, we did some great things but it’s tough when you lose. They got some calls got them going, woke them up. Delle Donne hit some tough shots she had a great night tonight, gave her team some confidence.”
And a victory, another step to the first postseason appearance in Sky history — and possibly much more.
Some postgame video from the Sky-Liberty game:
Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane was on “Late Show With David Letterman” on Wednesday. Here’s the video:
Nothing like a non-gratuitous photo of Playboy Playmate of the Year Raquel Pomplun. Credit: Playboy
If today is Thursday (which logic says it is, mainly because yesterday was Wednesday — provided that you are reading this on June 27, 2013, or a subsequent Thursday), then it is time again for a weekly session of “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris.
The one-hour interview show that is broadcast live on Talkzone.com at noon Central time features Hall of Fame caliber guests. This week’s are no exception. A couple of St. Louis Cardinals — the football variety. Defensive backs Roger Wehrli and Larry Wilson. Both are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For those who are unable to tune in for the live program, it will be available on podcast later Thursday at Talkzone.com.
For those wondering when we will have Playboy Playmate of the Year Raquel Pomplun on the show, let me assure you that efforts continue to make that dream become a reality. As a consolation prize for those out there in cyberspace, we offer a photo of Raquel.
Here is where we go for our daily dose of non-gratuitous video (with deepest appreciation to the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com and to their broad definition of “gratuitous”). Also much appreciation to Sports Illustrated, which has been running videos of its all-time top swimsuit models (we can only run a few every day, so stay tuned for more another time):
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