Indiana Fever at Chicago Sky

Fever hold off Sky in Elena Delle Donne's return from concussion

Tamika Catchings scored 18 points and Shavonte Zellous added 14 to lead Indiana past Chicago 64-58 on Tuesday night for its ninth win in the last 12 games. Karima Christmas added 10 points as the Fever (10-10) beat the Sky for the second time in four days, holding them to a season-low scoring output again.

Indiana spoiled the return of rookie Elena Delle Donne to Chicago's lineup after she missed the Sky's last two games and the WNBA All-Star game due to a concussion.

"We caught them at a time when Delle Donne is not back at full speed and we're starting to play really, really good defense," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "That's how you win when you're not shooting the ball well. We didn't even do well on the boards, but we defended so well."

Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds to lead Chicago (13-7), which lost for the third time in four games. Delle Donne scored 12 points and Epiphanny Prince added 11 for the Sky, who lost 79-58 at Indiana on Saturday.

The Fever led by seven points late in regulation before Chicago pulled to 58-55 with 1:51 left in regulation. But Christmas' layup followed by two free throws each from Briann January and Zellous put the game out of reach.

"We did play really solid defense and that usually gets it done," saud Delle Donne, fourth in the league in scoring at 18.2 points per game. "Offensively we couldn't get into a flow. You've got to give Indiana credit, they weren't letting us get into a flow."

With the loss, the Sky had their lead cut to one-half game over Atlanta for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago led 15-14 after one quarter and trailed 29-28 late in the second before Delle Donne's free throw with 1.6 seconds showing tied the score at the break.

Indiana led 43-36 with 1:21 left in the third but Prince's five consecutive points in the last minute closed the gap to 43-41.

Regular Season Series

IND wins series 3-1