Atlanta Dream beat Chicago Sky 83-80; Create extra room in the playoff chase – WNBA Recap
Angel McCoughtry scored a game high 22 points, including a pair of go-ahead free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining, as Atlanta Dream earned a hard-fought 83-80 victory over Chicago Sky on Tuesday night at Allstate Arena.
The victory snapped two-game winning streak of Chicago. The Dream are now two-game ahead of Chicago in the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with seven games to go.
McCoughtry also grabbed seven rebounds and stole the ball or three times. The player went 6 for 17 from the field and 10 for 13 from free throw line.
Lindsey Harding had 15 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals while Erika de Souza ended with 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks in the victory. Sancho Lyttle added 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots as Atlanta bounced back from their previous defeat to Connecticut Sun.
Sylvia Fowles led Chicago with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing a game best 12 rebounds. Fowles hit 9 for 12 from the field. Eshaya Murphy and Cathrine Kraayeveld came off the bench with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Chicago’s forward Murphy also pulled down seven rebounds while Epiphanny Prince finished with 12 points and five steals in the loss.
Dream shot 52.4 percent (33 for 63) from the floor and 78.9 percent (15 for 19) from free throw line while Sky shot just 44.4 percent (32 for 72) from the field and 76.9 percent ( 10 for 13) from the line. Chicago committed 24 turnovers as compared to just 17 by the visiting team. However, the Sky dominated Atlanta in rebounding 37-26.
Atlanta opened the first quarter on a 6-0 run before Chicago responded and raced onto a 18-11 lead. Dream however countered with eight straight points, capped by McCoughtry’s 4-point spurt, and carried a 19-18 lead into the second.
Atlanta limited Chicago to 20 points in the second quarter and maintained their one-point lead, 39-38, at halftime. They stretched their lead to six points, 61-55, with 52 seconds to go in the third quarter, but Sky scored five answered points to cut their deficit to one, 61-60, heading into the fourth.
The teams really battled it out in the fourth quarter as the game remained in a deadlock. With the clock running down, Fowles hit a jumper to put Chicago ahead by 80-79 and all they had to do was to hold back the Dream. But, on the night, it was not to be as with just six second left on the clock, McCoughtry and Harding each recorded a pair of free throws to seal the victory for Dream.
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