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Second-half scoring surge lifts Sky over Atlanta

After holding the Atlanta Dream to 38 first-half points Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Sky was satisfied with its defensive effort at the break.

The offense, however, needed some work as the Sky had scored just 30 points in the first half.

"Our defense was good," Sky coach Amber Stocks said. "We held Atlanta to under 40 points. The defense was solid. Our halftime focus was a heavy emphasis on offense and moving the basketball."

The focus was on point because the Sky rolled up 63 second-half points to erase its deficit and cruise to a 93-80 victory over the Atlanta Dream at Wintrust Arena.

The Sky, which had lost six games in a row, has now won two straight games. Sunday's emotional home victory came against Phoenix, which had the second-best record in the WNBA at the time.

In both wins, the Sky, which improves to 5-9, had to overcome double-digit deficits.

"I just think we are figuring out what makes us 12 (players) the 12 best that we can be, and we're just holding onto that," said Sky guard Allie Quigley, who scored 22 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting. "It's trying to minimize mistakes and roll with what's working, and that's moving the ball and playing defense."

Rookie Sky forward Diamond DeShields scored a game-high 23 points (with a game-high 11 rebounds) in spite of having her protective goggles knocked off, and tweaking her knee for a few minutes in the second half.

DeShields was also tasked with guarding Atlanta star forward Angel McCoughtry for much of the game.

McCoughtry set a new career-high with 39 points on June 19 against the New York Liberty and is averaging 18.5 points per game. Against the Sky, she had just 6 points on 1-of-11 shooting.

Atlanta also got only 2 points out from starter Jessica Breland, a former Sky player.

The Sky, which was down by as many as 13 points, got double-figures from centers Stefanie Dolson and Astou Ndour, who scored 13 and 12 points respectively. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot finished with 11 assists to go along with 8 points.

Guard Renee Montgomery led four players in double-figures for Atlanta with 19 points. Guard Layshia Clarendon and center Elizabeth Williams each had 13 points while reserve guard Blake Dietrick had 12 points, which included a 3-for-3 clip from 3-point range.

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