The Chicago Sky looks to continue its strong post-Olympic play against the San Antonio Stars on Sunday night at Allstate Arena. After defeating the Seattle Storm on Friday night, the Sky are a perfect 4-of-4 since returning from the Olympic break.
Chicago (14-13) is now tied with the Atlanta Dream for fourth place in the league and both teams are 4.5 games behind the New York Liberty. New York has already clinched a playoff berth.
The Sky defeated the Storm 92-88 behind Tamera Young’s season-high 24 points, four assists and four rebounds. Elena Delle Donne came close behind with 22 points and six rebounds. Chicago led by as many as 20 points midway through the third quarter, but Seattle rallied to bring the game within just two points. The game was sealed in the final seconds of the fourth quarter after the strong defense of Courtney Vandersloot forced a missed shot by Seattle’s Sue Bird, and Delle Donne nailed two free throws with less than a second remaining.
Sunday’s matchup marks the last time Chicago play at home before going on a road trip that will include games against Washington, Indiana and Connecticut. The Sky will go on to play two of their last three regular-season games at Allstate Arena, but those contests will be against two of the top three teams in the league – Minnesota and New York.
San Antonio has won just one of their four games since returning from the Olympic break, putting their overall season record at 6-20. Most recently, the Los Angeles Sparks 70-61 outshined the Stars on Thursday, September 1. Jayne Appel-Marinelli led the Stars in a near double-double effort scoring 12 points and pulling down nine rebounds. San Antonio currently sits in last place in the WNBA playoff standings.
Chicago and San Antonio have met just twice this season prior to Sunday’s game. In their first matchup this season the Sky fell just short of the Stars 79-78, despite a 27-point effort by Delle Donne. Chicago was able to bounce back in their second competition against the Stars this season, winning 81-75 largely due to the heroics of Delle Donne as she scored 19 of the Sky’s 23 second-half points.
Tip-off between Chicago and San Antonio is 5 p.m. CT at Allstate Arena. The game can be viewed live on The UToo Sports. Purchase single-game tickets for any game through September 18 and receive 20 percent off with the WNBA Super20. Visit www.WNBASUPER20.com/sky for more details.