Rhyne Howard scored 32 points and the Atlanta Dream pulled away in the closing minutes to beat the Chicago Sky for the second time in three days, an 88-77 victory on Sunday night at Wintrust Arena.
Up one midway through the fourth quarter, the Dream surged ahead by cashing in on three turnovers en route to their fifth straight win.
Cheyenne Parker had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta, which last won five straight games five years ago. Danielle Robinson and Allisha Gray both added 11 points. Howard had six rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block.
Kahleah Copper led the Sky (8-11) with 28 points. Courtney Williams added 14 and Elizabeth Williams had 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Ruthy Hebard played five scoreless minutes with one rebound for the Sky, her first game action since giving birth 12 weeks ago.
Howard hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter for a 47-35 Atlanta lead, but the Sky stormed back behind Copper, who had 16 points in the quarter. The Sky nabbed the lead a couple of times, but Howard knocked down a 3 in the closing seconds for a 68-67 advantage.
One of the Sky’s leads, 61-60, came when Marina Mabrey made two free throws at the 1:56 mark after Nia Coffey was was called for a flagrant-1 foul when Alanna Smith was hit in the head. Smith went into the locker room and did not return.
The last lead for the Sky was 67-65 after Dana Evans made two free throws with nine seconds left in the third, but Howard erased that and Atlanta won the fourth quarter again. The Dream also led by one entering the fourth quarter Friday before winning 82-68.
