Chicago Sky Beat Phoenix Mercury for First W.N.B.A. Championship

The Sky battled back from a large second-half deficit to beat the Mercury in a thriller.

CHICAGO — In front of a packed home crowd at Wintrust Arena, the Chicago Sky defeated the Phoenix Mercury, 80-74, in Game 4 of the W.N.B.A. finals, giving the franchise its first championship.

It was the second W.N.B.A. title for Sky forward Candace Parker, who signed with the team as a free agent in February.

The sixth-seeded Sky were unlikely champions after finishing the regular season with a .500 record. They had to win two single-elimination games to reach the semifinals, where they knocked off the top-seeded Connecticut Sun and their star forward Jonquel Jones, who won the regular-season Most Valuable Player Award, to clinch a finals berth.