Feverish Finish Lifts Sky by Indiana

May 17, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

What’s rarer than snow in Chicago in May? How about a Cubs victory at Wrigley Field on a May day with snow. Or a Chicago Sky victory over the Indiana Fever. Just about any time.

That’s not a basketball Gisele Bundchen is holding? So sorry, basketball fans.

OK, so there was no Cubs victory Friday. They lost 4-3 to Milwaukee. Then again, the Cubs have shown they are capable of losing in just about any conditions.

The WNBA’s Eastern Conference defending champion Sky entered its season opener against the Indiana Fever at Allstate Arena in Rosemont with a 6-27 record against the visitors. The Fever won three of four regular-season meetings in 2013 and swept the Sky from the postseason in two games. The Fever had won nine of the last 10 meetings and 13 of 15 vs. the Sky. On the road vs. the Sky, the Fever was 12-4, including five in a row at Allstate Arena and eight of nine since 2010.

Even without all-star Tamika Catchings (back) and center Layshia Clarendon (concussion), the Fever enjoyed a comfortable first-quarter lead that appeared to have set up another Sky loss.

Well, so much for appearances. And the Fever’s domination.

The Sky scored a 74-71 victory before a crowd of 6,721, a Sky record for a home opener. Indiana outscored the Sky 30-14 in the first quarter, but the Sky used defense to battle back.

“I think especially early in the season when teams are incorporating new players and finding rhythm, you need to make sure your have the defensive intensity turned up and you’re locked in,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said.

“They were in fifth gear, we were in fourth. We finally got to overdrive and that was the difference in the game.”

Among those instrumental in the comeback was rookie guard Jamierra Faulkner, who had five of her seven points in the fourth quarter and also played some tight defense.

“I thought Faulkner changed the rhythm of the game on the defensive end,” Chatman said. “She got the steal in front of me and saved it and ignited something within the team that carried throughout the rest of the game.”

Sky forward Elena Delle Donne had 16 of her 23 points in the second half. One of those points came on a free throw after Indiana’s Eriana Larkins was called for a technical foul with 1:08 left. Former Fever forward Jessica Breland made two free throws in the same sequence to give the Sky a 72-71 lead. Tamera Young made two free throws with 11.1 left for the Sky. An Indiana three-point attempt by Marissa Coleman was off-target with .1 left.

“We had the lead when they got the technical foul,” Fever coach Lin Dunn said. “The momentum swung the whole other way when that happened.”

“I had to get used to making different types of reads,” 2013 Rookie of the Year Delle Donne said. “This year [Indiana is] focusing a little bit more on me, so I had to continue to attack and be aggressive but see the open man.”

“The adjustment has been pretty smooth, the coaches are great and the players have been wonderful. They’ve given me a lot of confidence”

Rookie Natasha Howard led Indiana with 16 points.

“I didn’t have any butterflies,” she said. “I came in with confidence and I knew my team would have my back. I wasn’t worried about anything.”

“We played so well in the first half and then the second half we kind of played 50/50 and we almost had the chance to win the game,” Fever guard Shavonte Zellous (14 points) said. “I give credit to Chicago defense but I don’t believe it was Chicago’s defense. I think it was us not being poised enough on offense, or just taking shots that gave us the lead in the first half, I don’t think we shared the ball as well. I mean Chicago did play great defense but toward the end we kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”

Thereby allowing the Sky to pull off a rare feat.

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