• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Sky-Liberty Preview

Aug 10, 2015 - 9:59 PM Following an outstanding run with the New York Liberty, Cappie Pondexter returned home when she was traded to the Chicago Sky during the offseason.

As she returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time, Pondexter is hoping to match the performance that New York's Epiphanny Prince had when she was back in Chicago last week.

The Sky have lost twice at home to the Liberty but look to move closer to the Eastern Conference leaders Tuesday night with their seventh consecutive road win in the series.

After winning two WNBA titles with Phoenix, Pondexter was a three-time All-Star during her five-year stint with New York and averaged a career-high 21.4 points in 2010.

In February, the Chicago native was traded to the Sky for Prince. Pondexter (15.0 points per game) has given the Sky another offensive threat behind WNBA scoring leader Elena Delle Donne (24.3) and was selected to her seventh All-Star Game last month.

Pondexter, however, had five points on 2-of-11 shooting in Sunday's 74-64 home win over Phoenix. She also struggled in both meetings with her former team, scoring 19 despite shooting 6 of 17 in an 89-81 loss June 30 and 12 on 2-of-13 shooting in Friday's 77-63 defeat.

Prince shined in her first game back at Allstate Arena after spending five seasons with the Sky. She finished with a career-high 30 points as New York rolled to its seventh victory in eight games.

"We can stay positive because we see these guys two more times and possibly, it could be a matchup in the playoffs," Pondexter said. "We have to learn from the situation, especially the last two games we've played them because we haven't had a good showing."

New York's Tina Charles has played well in the two matchups, totaling 44 points and 23 rebounds. Charles ranks second in the league with 9.3 boards per game and fourth with 17.9 points.

The Liberty (14-6) have done a solid job defensively against the Sky (14-9), who lead the WNBA with 84.2 points per game. Chicago scored a season low in last week's matchup and has shot 34.8 percent while getting outrebounded 83-66 in the season series.

The Sky survived a big scare Sunday when Delle Donne went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter before scoring 16 of her 33 points in the third during the team's third win in four games.

The star forward had 26 points and 13 rebounds against New York in June, but she had 17 and six while shooting 4 for 12 on Friday.

Chicago has won by an average of 14.2 points during its win streak at MSG.