Delle Donne scores 21, Sky tops Sun 78-68

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Elena Delle Donne showed why she's an essential part of the Chicago Sky's offense.

She scored 21 points and the Chicago Sky held beat the Connecticut Sun 78-68 Wednesday.

''I like the fact how so much is predicated off of Elena, which opens stuff up for other people,'' said Chicago Coach Pokey Chatman said.

Courtney Vandersloot scored 18 points and Jessica Breland had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Chicago, which won its third straight to begin the season and fifth in a row against the Sun.

Delle Donne got past an uneven start and the Sky outscored the Sun 21-8 in the second, holding Connecticut to 3-of-21 shooting to open up a 19 point lead entering the half at 45-26.

Rookie Chiney Ogwumike had 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter to help the Sun threaten in the second half. Katie Douglas had 14 for Connecticut.

''It just took a while for our inside game to get going,'' Ogwumike said. ''It's really unfortunate. If we had that going a little earlier, maybe we wouldn't have gotten in that big of a hole.''

Rookie Chiney Ogwumike had 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter to help the Sun threaten in the second half. Katie Douglas had 14 for Connecticut, which fell to 0-3.

The Sun used an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 68-62 - the closest they had been since the start of the second quarter - with 4:22 remaining, highlighted by Allison Hightower's foul shot following a layup.

Delle Donne made sure that's where it stopped, and the Sky scored the next six points, including on an assist and a runner in the lane by the 2013 Rookie of the Year.

Then she blocked a shot to start the fast break, and Vandersloot knocked down a pull-up jumper that made it 76-62 with 2:09 remaining.

''(I'm) not even looking for my shots,'' Delle Donne said. ''But just kind of somehow playing through me where the defense shifts. It's just kind of figuring out how to attack in a smart way.