Sky fall, suffer another 'tough' loss; Laimbeer wins No. 200

Rosemont, IL -- The Chicago Sky returned home Friday night, in hopes of bouncing back after a tough loss on the road against the Lynx on Tuesday. With the New York Liberty in town, the Sky would have their hands full, as they are at the third best team in the league right now. And even with that in mind, the Sky lost another tough game, 88-85.

Two big reasons for that is Tina Charles dominates on the inside and Sugar Rodgers takes care of the scoring from the guard position.

"I'm just trying to will my team to a win. Just knowing that basically the percentage of the team's success relies on my shoulders, and I welcome that weight. Every night I'm playing for my teammates respect so that's just my mindset going into games, just to be consistent."

New York's aforementioned tandem, took over in the first half. Charles put up 16 of her team's 44 points and Rodgers assisted with 12, shooting 50 percent from behind the arc.

"She works really really hard," Coach Chatman said on Charles' performance. "She has a mindset of a four and a five."

In the third quarter, New York was on a 9-0 run, when the 2015 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, Allie Quigley, stepped up big time. Quigley scored back-to-back-to-back threes to keep Chicago within reach, bringing the score to, 62-53. Quigley made a new season-high with 29 points, shooting 6-9 from behind the arc. Four of her threes came in the third quarter alone.

Jamierra- Faulkner, also showed off her explosiveness tonight. Faulkner ran the offense efficiently, as she snagged five more assists, tied her career high of 18 points, and had three steals on the night.

"My mind was in attack mode," Faulkner said about her play. She also attributed her play to giving her her team the extra fight and energy needed to keep the entire game close and ultimately falling short a possession.

"We are very fortunate it was only a one possession game, thanks to these two ladies (Quigley and Faulkner)," Chatman shared on her guards' play. However, she stated their play wasn't enough against the number one seed in the East. Chatman continued, "It's back to the drawing boards."

Charles and Rodgers came back in the fourth quarter to give their team that extra push to finish the game. Rodgers was 5-for-8 behind the arc, answering the Sky's efforts every time. Sugar ended the game with 21 points, four steals, and one block. Charles' extra efforts got her 29 points, (three shy of her career-high) and nine rebounds.

Chicago looks to get everyone involved, as they prepare for Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, tipoff is at 5pm.

New York remains as the top seed in the Eastern Conference and will play the last place team in the West San Antonio, on Sunday. Tipoff is at 3pm.