Sky-Sun Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Aug 08 2011 1:17PM

A successful road trip has the Connecticut Sun excited as they look to maintain their success at home.

The Sun begin a four-game homestand when they complete their season series with the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.

Connecticut (13-7) won 96-95 in overtime at Phoenix on Sunday to cap a 2-1 trip against Western Conference foes. Renee Montgomery scored 28 points and Asjha Jones had 27 for the Sun, who are one game behind first-place Indiana in the East.

"It's good just to have a win, period, on the road," Montgomery said. "We've been struggling on the road and to come and get two of three on the West Coast is good for us."

The Sun are tied with Seattle for the WNBA's best home record at 8-1. They have split four meetings with Chicago (10-12) this year, winning 83-68 in the lone matchup at Mohegan Sun Arena on June 19.

The matchup at center between Chicago's Sylvia Fowles and Connecticut's Tina Charles should go a long way toward determining Tuesday's winner. Fowles has outscored Charles in Chicago's two wins over Connecticut while the Sun center has done the same to her counterpart in her team's two victories.

Fowles is averaging 19.4 points and 9.5 rebounds - both third in the league - while Charles is fifth with 18.1 points and first with 10.9 boards.

Fowles has recorded double-doubles in all four games against Connecticut, averaging 21.0 points and 11.8 rebounds. Charles is averaging 20.5 points and 10.5 boards in the season series.

Charles had 23 points and 17 rebounds Sunday for her league-best 14th double-double - one more than Fowles. Charles' 12-footer with 5 seconds left was the winning basket.

Fowles had 21 points and 12 boards in an 88-69 win over Indiana on Sunday. The Sky are tied with Atlanta for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East.

"I think the team's focus was locked in, our coaches always tell us just play as a team together when we are out on the floor," Fowles said.

Shay Murphy scored a career-high 21 points, combining with fellow reserve Cathrine Kraayeveld to make seven 3-pointers.

"Offensively, we knew that they would be collapsing on Syl," Murphy said. "It was great to get some open looks and take care of business on both ends of the floor."

The Sky went 8 of 16 from 3-point range Sunday, but they've shot 32.8 percent from beyond the arc against the Sun this year.

"We can't really focus too much on this," Kraayeveld said. "We need to move on, learn from this game, and worry about Connecticut (and) focusing on what we need to do against them in order to win."

Charles helps Sun beat Sky

Posted Aug 10 2011 2:25AM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Tina Charles joined some elite company Tuesday night.

Charles tied a WNBA record with her seventh straight double-double as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky 69-58.

She finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds to tie the record set by Seattle's Lauren Jackson in 2003.

``I'm honored to be mentioned with her,'' Charles said.

The Sun, who won for the eighth time in the last 10 games, held Chicago to 27 percent shooting. It was a welcome sight for coach Mike Thibault, whose team was a day removed from a week-long West coast road trip.

``Can we call it a defensive clinic, not an offensive meltdown?'' Thibault said. ``This was a game we had to grind out somehow. We didn't have our legs to shoot the ball. We had to win with defense.''

The Sun shot 36 percent, but made 17 of 21 free throws.

Kara Lawson scored 14 points for Connecticut (14-7). Asjha Jones had 12 points for the Sun and Renee Montgomery added 10.

Sylvia Fowles led Chicago (10-13) with 19 points and Shay Murphy added 18. Tamera Young had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

The Sun won the season series from the Sky 3-2. Connecticut earned the tiebreaker should the teams finish with the same record.

``Connecticut understands what's at stake,'' Chicago coach Pokey Chatman said. ``They were at home with the feeling they should win every game. We're at the point of the season where everything matters.''

Connecticut led 46-40 midway through the third period when guard Tan White got two of her game-high five steals on consecutive possessions. They led to four points as the Sun stretched the lead to 50-40.

The Sun led by as many as 16 in the fourth period before Chicago's Courtney Vandersloot made a long jump shot with 40 seconds left to cut the lead to 64-58.

Lawson made two free throws and a layup to seal it.

Connecticut held Chicago to seven points in the second quarter to take an eventual 39-28 lead at halftime. It was the fewest points a Sun opponent scored in a half this season.

Chicago led 21-15 after one period but went scoreless for 4 minutes, 4 seconds. The Sun went on an 11-0 run to take a 26-21 lead.

• Sky: --
• Sun: --

• Sky: --
• Sun: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #9 Denise Brooks, #24 Tony Dawkins, #46 Tim Greene
• Attendance: 6049
• Duration: 2:00