advertisement

Sky drop eighth straight game

ATLANTA — ancho Lyttle had 24 points and Tiffany Hayes scored 18 to lead the short-handed Atlanta Dream to an 82-71 victory over the Sky on Wednesday night.

Atlanta (11-11), playing without star forward Angel McCoughtry, had a 17-point halftime lead cut to three midway through the fourth quarter before pulling away for its second win in three games — both against Chicago — since the league's month-long Olympic break.

Armintie Price had 14 points and Lindsey Harding 13 for the Dream, who were 22 for 29 on free throws.

Sylvia Fowles scored 22 points and Swin Cash added 19 for the Sky (8-13), who lost their eighth straight.

McCoughtry, the WNBA's leading scorer at 22.7 points per game, didn't play because of personal reasons. She took part in pregame ceremonies to honor the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team and then left the arena. She is expected to rejoin the Dream for Friday's game at Washington.

Chicago pulled to 69-66 on Ticha Penicheiro's running layup with 5:41 left. But Hayes completed a three-point play 30 seconds laterand the Dream regained control by hitting ree throws down the stretch.

Atlanta outscored Chicago 26-12 in the second quarter to take a 48-31 halftime lead. Lyttle scored nine of her 17 first-half points during a 12-5 run to start the quarter and the Dream kept pulling away as Cathrine Kraayeveld hit two 3s.

Cash helped Chicago keep it close early, scoring 10 of her 12 first-half points in the first quarter. But Atlanta made 58 percent of its shots before intermission to 38 percent for Chicago.

The Sky cut the lead to 61-53 going into the final quarter behind Fowles' nine points. But Chicago was outscored 13-5 after pulling within three points.

Epiphanny Prince, Chicago's leader at 20.4 point per game, played 17 minutes without scoring, taking just one shot. Prince, who missed eight games due to a foot injury before returning to the lineup last week, sprained an ankle late in Chicago's 77-67 loss to New York on Tuesday.

McCoughtry scored 25 as the Dream won 82-76 in Chicago last Friday and followed that up with 22 points in an 86-72 loss at Indiana on Saturday.

The game was the first at home for Atlanta since June 26. The Dream went 3-3 during a six-game trip before the Olympic break, and then split the first two games after the resumption of play.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.