The Chicago Sky head back to Chicago the winners of two straight and look to sweep the home-and-home against the Washington Mystics at 7:30 p.m. CT at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
The contest will feature a matchup between two of the greatest scorers to ever come out of Rutgers University, in Sky veteran Cappie Pondexter and Mystic rookie Kahleah Copper. Copper, The 7th overall pick of the 2016 WNBA draft, was a special player during her college career with the Scarlet Knights (2012-16), finishing with 1,872 career points, 3rd on the Rutgers all-time leading scorers list behind Sue Wicks (2,655 points from 1984-88) and Cappie Pondexter (2,211 from 2002-06). Copper is averaging six points and four rebounds per game for her rookie season while Pondexter holds averages of 12.6 points per game, and with 5,975 career points is well on her way to finishing amongst the top-five scorers in the history of the league. Copper would do well to look to Pondexter for inspiration as she seeks to continue her college success in the WNBA.
The Chicago Sky head into the showdown 3-4, good for third in the Eastern Conference. The Sky are 6th overall in points per game (84), 3rd in rebounds per game (38), 2nd in assists per game (19.7), and 9th in points allowed (84.4). Elena Delle Donne is pacing the team in both points (18.5) and rebounds (7.2). Point guards Courtney Vandersloot is dishing out 6.8 assists per game, while Jamierra Faulkner leads the WNBA in assists with 44 on the season.
The Mystics hold a 2-5 record and are fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Mystics are 9th overall in points per game (77.5), 5th in rebounds per game (35.2), 12th in assists per game (13.2), and 11th in points allowed at (86.9). Taylor Hill leads the Mystics in scoring with 16 points per game, and is getting to the line 6.9 times a game, second-most in the WNBA. Emma Meesseman holds averages of 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds, while Ivory Latta has played three games this season, averaging 11.7 points, shooting 62% from long-range.
The Sky won their Wednesday, June 1 matchup with the Mystics 86-78. Led by a game-high 18 points from Elena Delle Donne, the Sky shot 49.2% for the game and tied a season-low in turnovers with 12. Courtney Vandersloot finished with 10 points and eight assists in just her second game back from injury, while Cappie Pondexter scored 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Stefanie Dolson paced the Mystics with 14 points, while the Sky defense held prolific Washington scorer Tayler Hill to just 11 points on 14 shots.
Tip-off between the Sky and Mystics is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT. The Sky next head to Indiana to kick-off a four game road trip against Tamika Catchings and the Fever, before returning to Rosemont to face the San Antonio Stars on Tuesday, June 21 for a 7:00 CDT contest. Tickets start as low as $18. Call 866.SKY.WNBA or visit CHICAGOSKY.NET to purchase tickets today.