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Fever-Sky Preview

Jun 26, 2010 - 10:15 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Indiana (8-5) at Chicago (6-8), 6:00 p.m. EDT

With Katie Douglas continuing to put a slow start behind her, the Indiana Fever have proved difficult to beat at home lately. To return to the top of the Eastern Conference, though, the Fever could use better results away from there.

After falling in the opener of its four-game trip, Indiana returns to the site of one of its two road victories this season with Sunday's matchup against the Chicago Sky.

Last weekend, the Fever (8-5) topped East-leading Atlanta 94-91 to complete a unbeaten homestand against three clubs with winning records. They couldn't keep that momentum going Friday, blowing an 11-point lead in an 85-81 defeat to Seattle to start their road swing.

While falling to 2-4 on the road, Indiana went scoreless for a 5:17 stretch in the third quarter and faltered defensively.

"We played well in spurts. But obviously, they played well longer in spurts, and that's a huge reason why they were able to win the game," said Douglas, who scored a season-high 29 points. "We had an 11-point lead at one point, and they kept hitting. We weren't hitting and then we weren't getting stops, so when you combine those things with a team of this caliber, it's tough."

It was the Fever who rallied from an early 12-point deficit and spoiled the Sky's regular-season debut at Allstate Arena on May 22 with a 92-86 overtime win. Indiana followed that with a 69-61 home win over Chicago the next day, launching its current six-game win at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Fever earned those victories against the Sky (6-8) despite Douglas scoring a combined 14 points. She comes into this matchup averaging 18.6 points in eight games this month.

Chicago, meanwhile, has gotten better efforts from Jia Perkins and more consistent scoring from rookie Epiphanny Prince to notch consecutive wins following a four-game slide.

After averaging 7.6 points in her first nine games, Perkins has scored 17.0 points per contest over the last five and had a team-best 20 in a 79-72 home win over Washington on Friday night.

"I think I'm trying to get the ball around my sweet spot and get where I'm comfortable and go from there," Perkins said "(Early in the season) I was rushing my shot and forcing the game and wasn't comfortable. Now I'm comfortable."

Prince added 14 off the bench and has averaged 14.3 points her past three games after scoring 8.8 per game in her first 11. One of her two 20-point games came in the home loss to Indiana.

The Fever, who lead the all-time series 13-4, return to Allstate Arena on July 6 to conclude their road trip.