Rhyne Howard scored 23 of her 32 points in the second half and Cheyenne Parker had 18 with 11 rebounds as the Atlanta Dream won at Chicago for the second time in three nights, 88-77 over the Sky on Sunday.
Howard scored 16 in the third quarter, while first-time All-Star Parker had eight points in the fourth for the Dream (10-8), who overcame 28 points from Sky star Kahleah Copper to win its fifth straight.
In Friday’s 82-68 win at Chicago, Atlanta led by one after three quarters then outscored the Sky 23-10 in the fourth. The Dream again held a one-point edge entering the fourth Sunday and finished with a 20-10 advantage.
Parker scored six of the period’s first 14 points, and her rebound and bucket gave Atlanta a 78-71 lead with 3:31 remaining to play. Chicago (8-11), though, got within three with 2:33, but Allisha Gray (11 points) knocked down a 3-pointer, then Danielle Robinson (11 points) and Howard followed with baskets to keep control.
Atlanta led 42-33 at halftime, and Howard scored seven of its first nine second-half points to push that advantage to 51-39. However, the Sky used a 20-7 spurt, featuring 10 points from Copper — who scored 16 in the third — during the stretch, to take a 59-57 lead with just under three minutes left in the third. But a long Howard 3 with 2.4 seconds remaining gave Atlanta a 68-67 lead entering the fourth.
Atlanta used a pair of 7-0 runs in the second quarter to build a cushion that helped the team take a seemingly comfortable lead at the break.
Chicago missed five of its first six shots, and despite two quick fouls on Copper, who scored her team’s first six points, led on three occasions during the first 10 minutes of the contest. However, Atlanta, which shot 46.7 percent for the game, went 9-for-18 from the field to lead by three after one period.
The Sky’s Alanna Smith, who had seven points and hit a go-ahead basket with 2:47 remaining in the third, exited late in that period after drawing a hard foul.
–Field Level Media
