Sky host Stars, looking for third consecutive win

The Chicago Sky not only carry a two-game winning streak into their Thursday home game against the San Antonio Sky, but they also boast the WNBA's Eastern Conference reigning player of the week.

The Sky (10-16) host the Stars at (6-21) at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., the third and final regular-season meeting between the clubs.

Courtney Vandersloot earned league honors after she topped East players in assists (10 per game) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.833), and ranked second in scoring (22.2 points per game) and overall shooting percentage (.727, 16 of 22). She also was fourth in minutes (34.7 per game) and averaged 5.5 rebounds.

It was Vandersloot's second WNBA player of the week honor over her seven-year career and her first this season.

"Things are going well right now for me," Vandersloot said after scoring 26 points, dishing out 10 assists and grabbing seven rebounds Saturday in a 91-86 victory over the Atlanta Dream. "I'm always in a really good position. I have a lot of shooters around me, which opened up a lot of things tonight. They were focused on stopping them. I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to win; today that happened to work out for us, so that's a good thing."

A rejuvenated San Antonio team has won three straight and is coming off an 87-80 victory over the Seattle Storm on Saturday. Rookie Kelsey Plum scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 90 seconds remaining in overtime.

"Before, they would have beat us by eight or 10, but they didn't," Stars coach Vickie Johnson said. "We refocused, and we refocused on the defensive end of the basketball (court). I thought the players that needed the ball in their hands late in the game had the ball."

Kayla McBride tops San Antonio with a 16.1-point average, while Isabelle Harrison is next at 11.5 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game.

Allie Quigley leads Chicago at 17 points per game, and Stefanie Dolson is next at 14.2.

The Sky beat the Stars 85-81 on June 10. San Antonio turned around and claimed an 89-82 triumph on June 30 to break a season-high 14-game losing streak.

After Thursday, Chicago is idle until Aug. 18, when it hosts Los Angeles. San Antonio returns home to face Atlanta on Saturday.