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Rejuvenated Sky challenge Mercury in WNBA Finals

By WTOP Staff

BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — Glance at the regular-season records and the Phoenix Mercury would seem to be a shoe-in to win the WNBA Finals over the Chicago Sky.

Not so fast.

Chicago finally has all of its players, and the Mercury know the Sky’s 15-19 regular-season record is deceiving.

Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi calls Chicago “probably one of top two or three teams in the league.”

The Sky better be good, because Phoenix enters Sunday’s Game 1 with an 18-game home winning streak. The Mercury haven’t lost in Phoenix since May 23, to San Antonio in the third game of the season.

The Mercury beat Chicago twice in the regular season, but the Sky were missing star forward Elena Delle Donne and point guard Courtney Vandersloot for both games.

“We’re all going to have to play our best basketball in order to compete and get some wins out of this,” Delle Donne said.

Delle Donne and Vandersloot each missed 17 regular season games, Delle Donne because of a recurrence of Lyme disease, Vandersloot with a knee injury. The list goes on. Center Sylvia Fowles missed the first 14 games due to hip surgery, and guard Epiphanny Prince was out the first seven games due to physical and mental exhaustion.

“We’ve faced so much adversity,” Delle Donne said. “I think that carries us through.”

Chicago isn’t completely healthy. Delle Donne is nursing a sore back.

“I’m doing all right,” she said, “been doing a lot of treatment, getting a lot of work done. Still working on it. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be even better. … It’s not fun having a sore back, but I’ll be able to work through it, to push through.”

Phoenix rolled to a 29-5 regular-season, the best mark in league history. The Mercury swept Los Angeles in two games in the first round of the playoffs, then pulled out a 2-1 triumph over Minnesota in what many thought was a matchup of the league’s two best teams.

The Mercury vow no letdown against Chicago.

“It was a tough series (against Minnesota),” Brittney Griner said, “but when you hear that word ‘Finals’, you’re refreshed, especially for me. This is my first one.”

The 6-foot-8 Griner is surrounded by experience, including Taurasi and Penny Taylor, teammates on the Mercury’s two WNBA championship teams, in 2007 and 2009.

“We don’t care about anything but getting the championship,” Taylor said. “That’s been our focus all year. A lot of these players have made sacrifices to get here and they’re not going to relax now that we’re so close.”

Taurasi is coming off a 31-point, 7-assist performance in Phoenix’s 96-78 victory over Minnesota in the deciding Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. She heaved one in from just beyond halfcourt at the third-quarter buzzer, part of an 18-0 run.

“I’ve played with her so long now that I know she can do that,” Taylor said. “(tilde)We know in big moments she can do it, and so we look to her to do that and she really came through. She’s done it throughout the year so we weren’t surprised.”

Both Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello and Chicago coach Pokey Chatman called Taurasi “the best player in the world.”

Through the season, Taurasi was mostly a distributor, not a big scorer, on a team loaded with talent.

“I can honestly say we’ve been a little family this summer,” Taurasi said. “We’ve stuck together, we enjoy being around each other.”

In the finals for the first time, Chicago fought its way through as the East’s No. 4 seed in dramatic fashion.

Trailing by 17 early in the fourth quarter, the Sky rallied to beat the East’s top-seed Atlanta 81-80 on the road in the deciding Game 3 of the first round, the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in WNBA playoff history.

“It just taught us that no matter how far behind we were,” Delle Donne said, “we can always come back.”

In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Chicago beat Indiana 86-84 in double overtime. The Sky went on to win Game 3 in Indiana. Chicago is 3-1 on the road in the playoffs.

Winning in Phoenix, with a loud crowd against them, will be the Sky’s biggest challenge yet.

“They’re passionate fans,” Brondello said. “They’re engaged fans. They love the Mercury.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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