Each time the Dream play the Chicago Sky, it has brought mixed results.
Sunday night was no different. After much back and forth, the Dream defeated the Chicago Sky 81-79 in overtime at home in Atlanta’s third finish of the WNBA season in extra time.
A game that was a free-throw fest saw Chicago lead for most of the first half before the Dream took control in the third period. Free throws again came into play at the end of regulation and in overtime and Tiffany Hayes hit clutch free throws with 29 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.
“We happened to go into overtime, which stepped it up,” Dream forward Sancho Lyttle said. “And I guess all the running we do in practice helped us in the end.”
Angel McCoughtry matched a season high with 33 points for the Dream, who have won four in a row and are 15-5 overall. Chicago, despite a strong start to the season, has lost five in a row and 12 of 15 and is fifth in the Eastern Conference at 8-13.
Allie Quigley finished with a career-high 27 points off the bench, and Sylvia Fowles, who missed a layup at the regulation buzzer that would’ve won the game, had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Sky.
“She is such a tough player in the post. We felt Sancho (Lyttle) would be more active on her so Erika (de Souza) could roam around and crash the boards,” Dream assistant coach Karleen Thompson said of Fowles. “Sancho did a great job of being active against her.”
The Dream appeared to be in control at the end of regulation, but fouls by Celine Dumerc and Hayes opened the door briefly for the Sky. First Quigley made two free throws in the final minute of the fourth to narrow the gap to 73-72. Then, Epiphanny Prince made one of two free throws to force the game into overtime with 3.7 seconds remaining.
An overtime that was opened with a putback layup from McCoughtry didn’t quite seal the deal for the Dream. The lead changed four times and teams were tied twice in the final five minutes. But yet again free throws by Hayes finished off the victory.
When the Dream first faced Chicago on May 24, the Sky claimed an 87-73 victory on its home court. The Dream avenged that loss with a dominating 97-59 blowout on June 7, the Sky’s lowest-scoring game of the season.
The Dream victory, coupled with Saturday’s 93-79 triumph at Indiana, kept Atlanta in first in the Eastern Conference by 5 1/2 games.
“We’re going after a championship and we have to win the right way,” Thompson said. “We’re not going to let down and relax on anybody because on any given night, especially in the East, these teams are coming at us.”
Atlanta made 20 of 30 free throws; Chicago made 22 of 28.
“I feel like if we just made our free throws we would have just … won easier,” McCoughtry said.
The WNBA’s Eastern Conference player of the month for June, McCoughtry was honored for her accomplishment before the game. Both her parents were present to witness the presentation.
“It’s just one of those memory moments that you look back on life and you don’t forget,” McCoughtry said.
After back-to-back games, the Dream will take two days off before traveling to New York to play the Liberty at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
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