Fever-Sky Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Sep 03 2011 4:02PM

Following an extremely disappointing loss, the Chicago Sky need a victory and some help to keep their unlikely postseason hopes alive.

A matchup with the Eastern Conference leaders normally might not be ideal under such circumstances, but the Indiana Fever continue to falter.

The Sky conclude their home schedule looking to even their season series with the Fever, who hope to avoid a season-worst fourth consecutive loss and stay atop the conference Sunday.

Chicago (14-16) was on the verge of a season best-tying third consecutive victory Tuesday but blew a 14-point lead in the final 7:49, losing 71-67 at New York.

Sylvia Fowles scored 22 points and Epiphanny Prince had 15, but the Sky finished with 22 turnovers - six in the fourth quarter.

"You got to finish things out," coach Pokey Chatman said. "We're not good enough to not close out games or not stay true to the scheme or not play with poise or not scrap and be blue-collar. That's what it takes for us and it takes for 40 minutes, not 32."

With only one playoff spot remaining in the East after the Liberty clinched a berth Friday, the only way the Sky can make the postseason for the first time is if they win their final four games while fourth-place Atlanta loses its last three. The Dream, who sit 2 1/2 games ahead of Chicago, have taken three of four from the Sky and own the tiebreaker if the teams finished with the same record. Atlanta hosts Tulsa on Sunday.

The Fever (19-11), meanwhile, are coming off their most lopsided defeat of the season, falling 83-55 at Connecticut on Friday thanks largely to shooting just 30.1 percent from the floor. Tamika Catchings, who averages 15.6 points to rank among the league's top 10, was held to 11 on 4-of-14 shooting.

"We have to understand that we have a target on our back, everyone wants first place," coach Lin Dunn said. "We can't just show up and expect to win and it's very disappointing especially with our veteran team that we didn't match their level of intensity."

Indiana, now just one-half game in front of the second-place Sun, could end the day out of the spot in the East if it loses to Chicago while Connecticut defeats Washington.

The Fever rank second in scoring defense with 72.8 points allowed per game but have surrendered an average of 87.0 during their three-game skid.

Indiana won at home in the first two matchups of the season with the Sky but had difficulty slowing them down at Chicago in the most recent meeting, falling 88-69 on Aug. 7.

Fowles and guard Eshaya Murphy each scored 21 points during that win for the Sky, who have posted back-to-back victories at Allstate Arena.

Catchings, Douglas lead Fever past Sky, 88-80

Posted Sep 04 2011 10:09PM

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas scored 17 points each to help the Indiana Fever hold off the Chicago Sky 88-80 Sunday.

Erin Phillips had 16 points and reserve center Jessica Davenport added 14 for the Fever (20-11), who had lost three straight and four of five. Indiana retained its half-game lead on second-place Connecticut in the Eastern Conference with three games to go.

``We have been a first place team, but Connecticut is on a run here,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``We have a lot of teams playing really well, so we really needed to win this game tonight, plus we were coming off some tough losses.''

Catchings had a three-point play with 57 seconds remaining that ended a scoring drought of more than 4 minutes and gave the Fever an 82-78 lead.

``Coming off of three losses, I think, just to come out and have a great performance that was No. 1 on our minds right now and I think going into the playoffs, just trying to get that playoff mentality,'' Catchings said. ``We don't want to focus on where you stand in the standings cause at the end of the day it really doesn't matter when you get to the playoffs. It is a matter of going into the playoffs with the right mentality.''

Epiphanny Prince scored 21 points to lead Chicago (14-17), Sylvia Fowles had 15 and Tamera Young added 12.

Fowles broke her own franchise record for scoring in a season, set last year. She has 615, eclipsing her previous mark of 607.

The Sky were eliminated from playoff contention earlier Sunday when Atlanta clinched the East's fourth and final berth with a 73-52 win over Tulsa.

Chicago coach Pokey Chatman wants her players to use the last three games to keep improving and build for next season.

``The lessons that you learn when you are on top are not as valuable as the lessons that you learn when you are not on top,'' she said. ``The key is going to be the defense, the scheme, protecting the perimeter. I remember what L.A. did here. Tina (Thompson) hitting 3s. That's what I'm going to be evaluating when we go to Minnesota, L.A. and Seattle.''

Indiana dominated most of the third quarter and took a 64-53 lead on Tammy Sutton-Brown's jumper with 4:06 left. Chicago pulled within seven and trailed 72-64 entering the fourth.

Catchings, Douglas and Phillips each had nine points in a brisk first half as the Fever opened a 51-49 half-time lead. Young led the Sky with 10 points.

In the opening quarter, Douglas scored five straight in the final minute to trim Chicago's lead to 26-25.

Indiana hit 9-of-12 3-pointers and was 30 of 55 from the field (55 percent). Chicago, which shot 62 percent in the first half, finished at 50 percent (32 for 64).

The Sky had a 25-22 rebounding edge and outscored Indiana 44-36 in the paint.

• Fever: --
• Sky: --

• Fever: --
• Sky: Chatman

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
• Officials: #8 Daryl Humphrey, #39 Michael Price, #13 Cameron Inouye
• Attendance: 6199
• Duration: 2:05