Despite the efforts of Sky center Sylvia Fowles, Chicago fell short of winning Game 1 of WNBA Eastern Conference Finals at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana on Saturday night.

Fowles scored 20 points and 14 rebounds in Sky's 77-70 loss against the Indiana Fever followed by Allie Quigley with 14 points.

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"I feel like our team showed a lot of character," said  Fowles. "We just need to continue to fight, make sure we limit our turnovers and stop dribble penetration."

The Fever took an early lead 18-15 at the first quarter and piled up on points to eventually end the third quarter 12 points ahead but made a 14-3 run at the start of the fourth quarter.

With 1:22 seconds left in the final quarter, Sky is down by one but could not deliver the goods as Indiana scored eight additional points on free throws to end the game.

Briann January top scored for the Fever with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists while Shevonte Zellous scored two back-to-back three pointers that gave Indiana a 69-63 lead late in the game.

Zellous finished with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists while Elena Delle Donne, Tuesday night's hero in the historic comeback of Sky against the Atlanta Dream, scored 14 points and five rebounds.

Nine-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings was struggling throughout the game, only scoring 10 points.

"It is not an individual sport, it is a team sport," Zellous said. "When Tamika was struggling everybody played their part."

Indiana coach Lin Dunn says that the clutch threes of January, Zellous and Maggie Lucas made the difference late in the game.

"I think we showed a lot of fight," Delle Donne said. "Indy was able to make some really clutch shots at the end."

Both teams are now heading for Chicago where the Sky will be hosting Game 2 of best-of-three conference finals.

TagsSylvia Fowles, Allie Quigley, Briann January, Shevonte Zellous, Elena Delle Donne, WNBA, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever