Prince scores 19 points to lift Sky past Sun 86-77

Sky slip past Sun 86-77

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Chicago Sky overcame trouble when Sylvia Fowles went to the bench with foul trouble on Tuesday night.

The Sky (5-8) used a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter with leading scorer Fowles with five fouls and the Sky snapped a four-game losing streak with an 86-77 win over the Connecticut Sun.

Epiphanny Prince scored 19 points for the Sky (5-8) and Erin Thorn scored a season-high 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-4 run. Dominique Canty added 14 points.

“I don’t want to say this was a must-win but it kind of was,” Chicago coach Stephen Key said. “I think we’re a better team than our record.”

Fowles, averaging 19.5 points, committed her fifth foul with 7:57 remaining and the Sky trailing 63-62.

“We went to a zone and with all their big players out there, we knew that if we could get some stops, we could create some mismatches,” Key said.

Connecticut (8-4) cut an eight-point deficit to 70-67 with 4:20 left, but Thorn made a 3-pointer and Prince made a layup to make it 75-67. Connecticut got no closer than five the rest of the way.

It was the Sun’s first home loss of the season. The Sun hadn’t lost a home game since Aug. 25.

“It’s winning on the road where we’ve had a little losing streak going on,” Thorn said. “We finally played 40 minutes.”

Fowles scored 12 points and Jia Perkins had 11 for the Sky, who trailed by eight in the third period.

“I think this definitely was a momentum builder,” Prince said. “I think this showed we can play with anybody.”

Tina Charles had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Sun, while Sandrine Gruda and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota had 13 apiece. Renee Montgomery scored 12 points and Tan White had 11.

“We played bad basketball that I’ve been worried about for two days,” Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “Chicago played a great second half. They defended and we didn’t.”

The Sun shot 6-for-24 from 3-point range with the Sky made 6 of 8.