Kahleah Copper scored 23 points, Ruthy Hebard had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the short-handed Chicago Sky held off the Atlanta Dream 85-77 on Wednesday night in College Park.
Courtney Williams led Atlanta (0-2) with 24 points and eight rebounds. Chennedy Carter added 21 points with six assists. Tiffany Hayes made her season debut and scored five points in her first WNBA game in 619 days after opting out last season.
Chicago led by as many as 23 points, but Atlanta trimmed it to 73-71 with 2:12 remaining. Astou Ndour scored the next five points to extend the Sky’s lead to seven, and Diamond DeShields, who was 3-of-11 shooting, sealed it on a baseline jumper with 35.9 seconds left.
Ndour finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Courtney Vandersloot had 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists for Chicago (2-0), which turned it over 24 times. Stars Allie Quigley (hamstring) and Candace Parker (ankle) did not play.
Hebard beat the first-quarter buzzer with a fade-away jumper to give Chicago a 23-12 lead. She finished the half with 12 points and nine rebounds to help extend the lead to 46-28. Atlanta shot just 34.3% from the field in the first half, and 3 of 12 from the free-throw line.
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