• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Liberty-Sky Preview

Jul 22, 2010 - 7:43 PM By SAMANTHA PANITCH STATS Writer

New York (10-10) at Chicago (11-11), 8:30 p.m. EDT

The Chicago Sky and New York Liberty are tied for last place in the Eastern Conference, but that hardly puts them out of the playoff picture.

Just 1 1/2 games out of the fourth and final playoff spot, the Sky host the Liberty on Friday night with New York looking to complete a sweep of the season series.

The Liberty (10-10) have clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Sky (11-11) by taking the first three meetings of the season. New York won the last matchup 57-54 at home July 11, with Cappie Pondexter scoring 14 of her 30 points in the final 12:15 to rally the Liberty from 13 down late in the third quarter.

The Chicago native has averaged 27.7 points versus the Sky this year, with two of her 30-point performances coming against them.

While Pondexter has provided the scoring, another key to the Liberty's dominance of the season series has been slowing down Sylvia Fowles.

The All-Star center scored 23 points in the teams' first meeting May 16, but was held to a total of 23 in the last two matchups. New York was able to do so by limiting Fowles' shots, as she had only nine in each contest.

She managed four points in the second half July 11 and finished with a season high-tying five turnovers.

Fowles, averaging 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds on the season, has helped spark a three-game winning streak that has lifted Chicago to the .500 mark for the first time this season.

Fowles scored 13 points and made the go-ahead basket inside late to give the Sky a 61-59 victory over Washington on Sunday. She added 11 rebounds for her sixth consecutive double-double.

Dominique Canty scored 11 points and Jia Perkins chipped in 10 for Chicago, which has won three straight for the first time since a four-game run from May 27-June 5. Its last loss came against the Liberty.

"Physically I think we're fine," Fowles said. "Mentally, I think we need to catch up. Just because it's been a lot for us and it's been an up-and-down season."

New York is coming off of a key win of its own, 82-74 over Connecticut on Tuesday that further tightened up the hotly contested East. Pondexter scored six of her game-high 24 points in overtime and Leilani Mitchell had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Liberty.

New York led 61-48 with over four minutes left in regulation, but the Sun's Renee Montgomery scored 12 points in the final 1:48 to force the extra period.

"This was a huge win for us," New York coach Anne Donovan said. "We just came off of an overtime game against Indiana that we didn't finish (84-81 on Sunday). "Considering how they finished regulation, it was great to see us regroup and really take over in overtime."