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Zellous helps Shock beat Sky

Aug 10, 2009 - 1:01 AM AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) -- Shavonte Zellous rediscovered her shooting touch Sunday night, scoring 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting to help the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock beat the Chicago Sky 64-58 on Sunday.

"The last three games, I didn't think I was as efficient as I had the first half of the season," Zellous said. "But my teammates helped me and I stayed positive and I think that's what worked - just being aggressive."

Zellous got plenty of offensive support from her teammates Sunday night. Katie Smith (14 points) and Deanna Nolan (11 points) reached double figures for the Shock (8-11), who were aided by 21 offensive rebounds.

The extra effort inside proved to be a turning point.

"It's big getting those second-chance possessions and putting pressure on their defense, especially when they went into a 2-3 zone," Detroit coach Rick Mahorn said.

"That leaves a lot of lanes open to get offensive rebounds." Chicago (11-12) once again dipped under .500 after committing 21 turnovers and shooting 33.3 percent from the field.

Candice Dupree led the Sky with 16 points, Dominique Canty had 13 and Sylvia Fowles added 10.

But Chicago's inability to take care of the ball proved costly.

"We have to be disciplined and stronger with the ball," Chicago coach Steven Key said. "We are lackadaisical with the ball, back on our heels and we allowed the pressure to get to us. We can't continue to do that."

The Shock - who used a 13-0 surge at the end of the first quarter to build a lead - never trailed again after Zellous' 3-point field goal with 14.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Cheryl Ford scored on back-to-back fourth-quarter possessions, extending the Detroit lead to eight at 55-47 before Nolan pushed the Shock lead to 11 with a jumper with 3:12 remaining.

Chicago cut it to 62-56 on K.B. Sharp's 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining, but couldn't cut into the lead after Taj McWilliams' two offensive rebounds helped Detroit wind down the clock.

"The turning point was them getting boards and getting to the paint," Fowles said. "They got into to the paint way too much and got any shot they wanted. That can't happen if we want to win a basketball game."

The Shock, mired in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, face a critical stretch ahead. Detroit travels to Washington, Atlanta and first-place Indiana hoping to salvage its playoff chances.

"We plan to have a good week," Mahorn said. "We want to be able to defend our championship and this week will dictate what we're going to do."