NEW YORK -- Epiphanny Prince scored 22 points and the New York Liberty beat the short-handed Chicago Sky 84-63 on Tuesday night for their eighth victory in nine games.
Prince was 9 of 13 from the field against her former team. She had a season-high 30 points at Chicago on Aug. 7.
Chicago was without WNBA scoring leader Elena Delle Donne, who sat on the sideline in a walking boot after injuring her ankle Sunday against Phoenix. Delle Donne was injured in second quarter, but remained in the game and scored 23 of her 33 points in the second half.
Kiah Stokes had a career-high 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for New York (15-6), which beat Chicago for the third straight time after losing 10 straight. Tina Charles, New York's leading scorer, was held to a season-low four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
"That is the great thing about this team, we have a number of players who can score," Swin Cash said. "It is great for Tina because she can have an off-night and not feel the need to press because she can depend on her teammates to pick up the scoring load."
Cappie Pondexter, playing in New York for the first time since being traded for Prince in the offseason, led Chicago (14-10) with 23 points. Pondexter was a three-time All-Star in five seasons with the Liberty. Courtney Vandersloot had eight points, nine assists and five rebounds.
"You have to give credit to New York, but I do not think they have seen our best yet," Vandersloot said. "We get to play them one more time fortunately and we will be ready."
Chicago Sky
New York leads the Eastern Conference by 2 1/2 games over Chicago, Indiana and Washington.
Chicago started the second half on an 8-2 run to pull within 47-44 but New York extended its lead with a 10-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Essence Carson and Candice Wiggins. The Sky only made two field goals over the final 7 minutes of the third quarter and trailed 66-49.
"Playing at home, it is all about the energy and they capitalized on that from the beginning of the game," Pondexter said. "Epiphanny Prince set the tone for them. She made some crucial shots and everyone else kind of followed suit. I thought we punched back in the third quarter, made some adjustments and we didn't knock a few shots down and I think they capitalized on top of that."