CHICAGO, August 3, 2007 (AP) -- Plenette Pierson scored 15 points to help the Detroit Shock beat the Chicago Sky 66-60 Friday.

Swin Cash had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Detroit (22-6), which has won four straight and 11 of 12.

Kara Braxton scored 12, and Deanna Nolan added 11 for the reigning WNBA champions, who hold a 4 1/2 game lead over second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference with six games remaining. The Shock's only loss in the past seven weeks was a 83-73 home loss to Chicago on July 26.

"We're hungry,'' Cash said. "Obviously the magic number is three, but for us the magic number is six. You want to play your best basketball going into the postseason and that's what we're really going to try to focus on.''

Jia Perkins scored 19 for Chicago (12-16), who lost for the third time in four games. Stacey Dales added 14 for the Sky, who are tied with Washington for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East.

"I hope that there's a little message sent there that if we do get in the playoffs and get to play (Detroit) again, they're going to have to play (hard),'' Sky coach Bo Overton said. "I think we'll be there and I think we'll compete.''

Chicago leading scorer Candice Dupree missed the game to attend her grandmother's funeral in Florida. Dupree averaged 19 points in three games against the Shock this year and had 24 points and 12 rebounds in Chicago's win at Detroit. She is expected to rejoin the team Sunday in Washington.

"It doesn't matter if Candice is here or she's not,'' Cash said. "Their coach gets them to produce and other people step up.''

Perkins hit a jumper to make it 61-58 with 2:29 remaining but Katie Smith hit a pair of free throws to extend Detroit's lead to five with 17 seconds left in the game.

Chicago opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run but the Shock answered with a 8-0 run of their own to take a 57-53 lead with 5:20 remaining.

"Coming down the stretch our talent and execution took over,'' Shock coach Bill Laimbeer said. "We're pretty dominant in the fourth quarter against any team that we play.''

Perkins scored four straight points to give the Sky a one point lead with 1:08 left in the third. Smith responded with a 3-pointer to give Detroit a 49-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Pierson converted a three-point play to give the Shock a 25-18 lead with 6:39 left in the second quarter.

Chicago, which shot 28.2 percent (11-of-39) in the first half, used a 9-2 run to pull within one but Detroit hit five free throws in the final minute to take a 34-29 halftime lead. Detroit shot 67 percent (10-of-15) in the first quarter and took a 20-16 lead.