Storm-Sky Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jul 18 2011 3:23PM

Winning on the road has been a struggle for the Chicago Sky. It's been a different story on their home floor.

The Sky will try to earn their fourth straight home victory Tuesday night when they take on the Seattle Storm.

After routing Tulsa at Allstate Arena on Wednesday, Chicago (7-8) dropped its fifth in a row on the road Saturday by allowing Atlanta to take control in the fourth quarter. Despite a 40-17 run that gave the Sky a seven-point lead in the third, the Dream outscored Chicago 24-14 in the final period and won 76-68.

Sylvia Fowles had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks, but the other Sky starters combined for 22 points.

"We just have to keep pressing forward. We have to look at some of the thing that we didn't get done," Fowles said.

The defeat dropped Chicago to 1-6 on the road, but the Sky will be seeking their longest home win streak since a franchise-best five-game run in 2009 on Tuesday.

To continue that roll, the Sky may need to take better care of the ball. They're averaging a league-worst 18.5 turnovers and matched a season high with 21 against Atlanta.

"We're leading the league in turnovers and those are points you end up missing," forward Michelle Snow said. "With those additional points, it could've been a different game."

Chicago gave the ball away only 12 times at home against Seattle on May 27, 2010, and led by 19 in the fourth quarter before beating the eventual WNBA champions 84-75.

Seattle bounced back to break a three-game skid in the series with an 80-60 victory July 30. Swin Cash scored 16 points to pace five Storm players in double figures, while Lauren Jackson added 14.

Jackson won't play in this game as she continues her recovery from hip surgery. The Storm (7-6) have been inconsistent without the three-time league MVP, ending last week by suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time this season.

After scoring 99 and 79 points in two straight home wins, Seattle failed to score more than 66 in losses at San Antonio on Thursday and at Minnesota on Saturday.

The Storm managed two points over a 12:41 span in the 69-62 defeat to the Lynx, their third in a row away from home. Seattle hasn't dropped four straight on the road since July 28-Aug. 15, 2009.

"We can't go into those lulls because it gives teams opportunities to get big leads on us," guard Sue Bird said. "Even though we do come back, it's a lot of energy to do that and then sometimes it's difficult to get over the hump, tying it or taking the lead. We're definitely aware of that. We've just got to have a little more focus."

All-Stars Fowles, Prince lead Sky over Storm 78-69

Posted Jul 19 2011 9:55PM

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) All-Stars Sylvia Fowles and Epiphanny Prince combined for 47 points to lead the Chicago Sky to a 78-69 win over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.

Fowles, the WNBA scoring leader, had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Prince added 23 points for Chicago (8-8), which won its second in three games. Both players were announced as All-Star reserves at halftime.

Sue Bird scored 26 points for the Storm (7-7), who dropped their third straight.

Chicago led 69-68 with 3:15 to play following Bird's fourth 3-pointer of the game, but Prince scored four points during a 9-1 run to help the Sky take control.

Ashley Robinson had 14 points and Swin Cash added 10 for Seattle.

Robinson, making her first start, and Cash had eight first-half points apiece as the Storm struggled through 11-of-35 shooting (31.4 percent). The Sky weren't much better, going 11 of 30 (36.7 percent).

Bird's four-point play with 1.6 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave Seattle a 33-30 halftime lead. She hit a 3-pointer, was fouled by Prince and made the free throw.

Chicago scored nine unanswered third-quarter points to open a 39-36 advantage, the first of two six-point leads in the quarter.

Seattle reclaimed the lead with eight straight points late, including consecutive 3-pointers from Bird and Smith, before Prince's buzzer-beating 3-pointer cut the Storm's lead to 55-54 entering the fourth.

Prince's steal with 45 seconds to play helped seal the win. She fed to Fowles, who had a layup, drew a foul and hit a free throw for a seven-point lead.

• Storm: --
• Sky: --

• Storm: --
• Sky: --

• Lead Changes: 12
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
• Officials: #45 Tom Mauer, #55 Eric Brewton, #28 Angellica Suffren
• Attendance: 6026
• Duration: 2:02