The host Chicago Sky rode a big second quarter to a 93-75 rout of the WNBA-leading Connecticut Sun on Sunday evening.
The Sky had five players score in double figures, led by Cheyenne Parker’s 22 points. Allie Quigley notched 14 points and Courtney Vandersloot added 13 points and seven assists.
Diamond DeShields and Stefanie Dolson scored 12 points apiece, with DeShields adding nine rebounds. Jantel Lavender piled up 13 rebounds to go with eight points.
The Sky (6-3) bounced back from a 76-69 home loss to Indiana on Friday, a defeat that ended a four-game winning streak and marked their lowest point total of the season. On Sunday, they surpassed 69 points with 3:42 left in the third quarter when DeShields nailed a 3-pointer to give the Sky a 70-47 lead.
Connecticut (9-2) had a seven-game winning streak snapped. The Sun’s only previous loss came at the Los Angeles Sparks on May 31, their third game of the season.
Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, while Jasmine Thomas added 12 points and seven assists. Jonquel Jones, who entered as the league’s fourth-leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Connecticut’s Shekinna Stricklen, who began the night averaging 11.8 points a game, missed all five of her shots, including three from 3-point range, and was held scoreless.
After a first quarter that ended tied at 27, the Sky took off in the second quarter, going on a 15-0 run, with the points spread among five players. The Sky dominated the quarter 29-8.
Because of a mix of missed shots and turnovers, the Sun didn’t score until Courtney Williams hit a floating jumper with 6:02 left before halftime. By then, Chicago led 42-29.
The half ended somewhat fittingly when Vandersloot stole an inbounds pass in the Sky’s frontcourt with about three seconds left and drove and scored on a scoop shot at the buzzer to push Chicago’s lead to 56-35.
Connecticut shot only 38.5 percent in the first half, while Chicago hit a blazing 67.6 percent. The Sun also finished the half with 10 turnovers.
The Sun never threatened in the second half. Jones hit a jumper with 8:54 left in the third quarter to pull Connecticut within 56-40, but Chicago quickly scored the next eight points to pad the lead to 64-40 with 7:28 left.
The Sky shot 52.8 percent for the game, while the Sun finished at 40.3 percent.
–Field Level Media
