Sky 85, Mystics 78
Sylvia Fowles collected a game-high 32 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Chicago Sky to an 85-78 WNBA victory over the Washington Mystics on Friday at Allstate Arena.
The win was the second in three starts this season for the Sky (13-5) against the Mystics (9-11) as the league resumed play after last week's All-Star break.
The Sky hit 10 of 11 free throws in the final 3:23 to pull away.
Tamera Young had 13 points while Swin Cash added 10 for the winners.
Matee Ajavon topped Washington with 19 points. Monique Currie had 13 while Michelle Snow and Crystal Langhorne added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Mystics made it a one-point game, trailing 75-74 with 3:39 to play after Currie's 19-foot jumper. But the Sky pulled away down the stretch as Fowles hit four straight free throws and Courtney Vandersloot had five more.
The Sky led by as many as 12 points late in the first period before Emma Meesseman's jumper cut the advantage to 23-13 by quarter's end.
Chicago opened big leads at 27-13 and 31-20 in the second quarter, but Washington's 24-13 surge in the final 7:09 forged a 44-44 halftime tie.
Fowles scored seven points in the final 4:04 of the third quarter as the Sky opened a 67-60 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Chicago was without rookie forward Elena Delle Donne, who missed her first start of the season after sustaining a concussion in the third quarter in the July 24 game against the Mystics.
Delle Donne was forced to miss last Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game after collecting the highest number of votes. The WNBA player of the month for June was averaging 18.2 points per game.
The Sky had won five straight and eight of their last nine before dropping an 82-78 decision on July 24 at Washington heading into the break.
