Sky-Fever Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted May 23 2010 12:39AM

Now that the Indiana Fever have finally won a game, they can focus on making sure the Chicago Sky remain the Eastern Conference's only winless team.

The Fever try for a second straight victory as they host the Sky in the finale of the teams' home-and-home series Sunday night.

After losing their first two games by a combined 11 points, the defending Eastern Conference champion Fever (1-2) managed to hold off Chicago 92-86 in overtime Saturday night.

"We showed a lot of character,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "It was gut-check time."

Tamika Catchings, who had a combined 30 points in her first two games, scored eight of her 28 in overtime Saturday for Indiana. Shay Murphy added 20 as the Fever shot a season-high 48.5 percent.

Indiana hopes to finally have found its rhythm now that starters Catchings, Katie Douglas, Ebony Hoffman and Tammy Sutton-Brown are all back in the mix after the foursome missed training camp while playing in the finals of the Turkish League. The Fever have lofty expectations this year after they won a franchise-record 22 games on the way to their first WNBA finals appearance in 2009.

"It was disappointing to start the season 0-2, but the one thing we kind of built off was being able to have practice together,'' Catchings said. "We had a whole week to get ready for Chicago and we came out more focused.''

Indiana has won four of five against Chicago, and improved to 12-4 all-time versus the Sky.

The Sky (0-3), who won a franchise-best 16 games and almost made the playoffs for the first time in 2009, are in danger of extending the worst start in their five-year existence.

Chicago's Sylvia Fowles had 22 points, including a game-tying hook shot with 14 seconds left in regulation, and 12 rebounds Saturday. Chicago forced overtime despite committing 20 turnovers in their home opener in front of a club-record 6,477 fans in their new home at Allstate Arena.

"My teammates are confident in me that I should have the ball the last few minutes,'' said the 6-foot-6 Fowles, who's averaging 20.3 points and 9.0 rebounds this season. "But it's very frustrating (to lose).''

Rookie Epiphanny Prince added 20 points after totaling 10 in her first two games for the Sky, who rank near the bottom of the league after allowing an average of 83.7 points through three games.

Murphy's 16 points leads Fever past Sky 69-61

Posted May 23 2010 8:31PM

INDIANAPOLIS(AP) Shay Murphy had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Indiana Fever to a 69-61 victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday night.

Tamika Catchings finished with 13 points and Jene Morris and Briann January each scored 12 for the Fever, who beat Chicago for the second straight day to improve to 2-2. Indiana is 13-4 all-time against the Sky and 8-1 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Cathrine Kraayeveld had 11 points and Sylvia Fowles added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Sky (0-4), who have lost their four games by a combined 30 points.

The Fever stretched a five-point lead to 61-50 after Murphy's five straight points early in the fourth quarter. Chicago scored the next seven points, capped by Jia Perkins' 3-pointer, to get within 61-57 with 5 minutes left. Indiana answered with January's two free throws and Katie Douglas' three-point play to put the game away.

Indiana shot 46 percent from the field in the opening half and took its biggest lead, 32-23, on Jessica Moore's jumper with less than six minutes left in the second quarter. The Sky finished the half with a 16-1 run to open a 39-33 advantage. Kraayeveld had seven points during the spurt.

The Fever responded in the third quarter, taking a 49-42 lead on Moore's two free throws. Chicago made just 3 of 11 shots from the field in the period.

• Sky: --
• Fever: --

• Sky: Key
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #9 Denise Brooks, #45 Tom Mauer, #49 Kevin Sparrock
• Attendance: 7665
• Duration: 2:0