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The Chicago Sky enjoyed a benchmark victory on Saturday. Fittingly, the bench left a mark in the process. With an 85-68 victory against the Atlanta Dream at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., the Sky clinched homecourt throughout the WNBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs.
Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot drives past Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry. Credit: Rick Welton / HomeLand Sports LLC
Among the reserves contributing to the Sky’s sixth consecutive victory (tying a franchise best set last season), forward Tamera Young had 12 points in 19:26 of playing time, guard Allie Quigley (16:47) had nine points and four assists and center Avery Warley (14:38) had seven rebounds.
Of course, the Sky starters played a fairly significant part, too. Center Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and six rebounds, rookie forward Elena Delle Donne 15 points and seven rebounds, guard Courtney Vandersloot eight points and a game-high nine assists, guard Epiphanny Prince nine points and forward Swin Cash six points and five rebounds (plus all the little things that don’t show up in a boxscore).
All of Prince’s points came in the third quarter when the Sky (21-8) dominated 30-11 to break open what had been a 40-39 halftime lead. Rookie guard Alex Bentley led the Dream (14-15) with 19 points; all-star Angel McCoughtry, who did not start because of an ankle injury, had 17 points.
“Our bench coming out and contributing a whole lot for us and getting some defensive stops in the second half definitely helped,” said Fowles, who tied a career high with four steals.
The Sky sent out an email Sunday saying it had terminated Warley’s contract after Saturday’s game. She had been signed Aug. 3 after injuries sidelined guard Sharneé Zoll-Norman and center Carolyn Swords and left the team with less than than 10 active players.
The Sky started off the second half against Atlanta by causing a 24-second shot clock violation and outscored the Dream 13-3 to open the third quarter.
“It was a complete focus on defense, and we wanted to do far better than we did in the first half,” said Delle Donne whose 28:18 was the most playing time of the team’s starters. “We were giving them too many open looks so you know basically the whole shift was to focus on defense, and it helped us a lot.”
Asked how she would have responded to someone before the season telling her the team would clinch the best record in the East with five games left in the regular season, Sky coach Pokey Chatman said with a smile:
“I wouldn’t have listened. Just out of respect for this league and the players, I probably would have figured that person was in my family, but I would have still taken it as a compliment in terms of them having respect for the players and their ability that’s there.”
Some postgame video:
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