Fowles, Prince dominate to lift Sky past Mystics in thrilling victory

Fowles and Prince dominate to lift Sky past Mystics in thrilling victory.

Four games. Four double-doubles. Sky center Sylvia Fowles dominated the game with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks as she scored the game winner with two tenths of a second left in regulation.

After trailing for most of the second half, the Sky fought back to prevail 65-63 Friday night at Allstate Arena.

With her 4 blocks, Fowles passed up Chasity Melvin to claim 16th on the all-time block list in WNBA History.

The spotlight was on Sky guard Epiphanny Prince tonight though, as she scored a career-high 31 points, including 16 in the fourth. She was 12-17 from the field.

The Sky now have won the last eight meetings over the Mystics, a streak that spans almost two years.

The Sky defense held up one last time to force the Mystics to a 24 second violation, their fifth of the game.

In a close knit game which featured 14 lead changes, the Sky had one last burst in them to pull another victory out. The Sky shot 36.9% from the field while allowing the Mystics to shoot 42.6%. The Sky are 3-1 overall to start the season for the second consecutive year.

Washington forward Monique Currie paced the Mystics with 15 points.

At the end of the first quarter, the Sky led by five, 16-11. The Chicago defense stifled the Mystics to begin the game as Washington didnt score their first field goal of the goal until five minutes had passed in the ball game. The Mystics only made two field goals in the first quarter but were 7-10 from the charity stripe due to early foul trouble by the Sky.

The Sky committed seven fouls in the first, as Prince, Vandersloot, and Fowles all picked up early personal fouls. Fowles dominated the start of the game with seven rebounds and six rebounds.

With the Sky reserves in to begin the second quarter, the Mystics came out firing on all cylinders as they scored the first seven points of the quarter before a Prince three pointer to regain the lead 19-18. Sky head coach Pokey Chatman didnt take any chance as she immediately brought the starters back in.

The intensity picked up right away as the Sky forced the Mystics to two 24 second violations within a minute. Moments later, Vandersloot connected with a nifty no-look pass to Sky forward Swin Cash, who went up and under with the reverse layup.

The teams would continue to exchange buckets before the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Fowles would come up with a huge block that led to six straight points by the Sky. The Mystics would be held scoreless for the next three minutes of the game as the Sky led going into the half, 29-27.

The third quarter belonged to Washington as they came storming out of the gates with four early points to take the lead before Prince tied it up with a layup. Fowles was up to her usual tricks however, keeping the Sky in the game with six points and five rebounds in the third. A three point field goal by the Currie would put them up four. The Mystics outscored the Sky 21-14 in the third to take a 48-43 lead into the final period.

With all the momentum in the favor of the Mystics extended the lead to eight, 56-48, after a Currie three point field goal with 3:24 left in regulation. Prince would connect on a traditional three-point play before stealing the ball on the next possession and laying it in to cut the Mystics lead to one, 60-59, with 1:02 left in regulation. The Epiphanny Prince show was in full effect in the fourth as she scored eight straight points for the Sky and put the team in a position to make a last second game winning shot, which Big Syl happily obliged with, sealing a 65-63 win in front of a loud home crowd.

The Sky have no time to celebrate the win, as they travel to Atlanta to take on the Dream on Saturday, June 2nd. Tipoff is set for 6 PM CDT and you can catch all the action on Comcast CN100 or WNBA LiveAccess.