With 1:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, Angel McCoughtry stole the ball away from the Sky guard and looked to make a wide open lay-up to give the Atlanta Dream (13-5) two points to tie the ball game at 82-82. McCoughtry missed the lay-up and the Chicago Sky (8-9) held on to beat the Dream inside Philips Arena for the second time this season with an 88-82 victory.
The loss snaps the Dream’s four-game winning streak and puts the only blemish in Atlanta’s current six-game home stand. McCoughtry finished the night with a team-high 20 points despite shooting 5-for-20 from the floor. Chicago center Sylvia Fowles led the Sky with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocked shots; dominating Atlanta inside the paint.
Atlanta finished the night shooting only 32.1 percent from the floor and 15.4% beyond the three point mark.
“We just didn’t hit our shots tonight,” commented head coach Marynell Meadors. “We had a lot of chippies in the first five minutes in the game, and we can’t miss those. We have to hit them. Lay-ups, we have to hit those, and then we have to hit free throws.”
Atlanta looked promising from the foul line but tampered off late in the fourth quarter. Despite poor shooting from Atlanta, the Dream had several chances throughout the contest but could not take control of the game, ultimately leading to the fifth loss this season.
“We had a chance to win the game. As poorly as we shot and missed lay-ups, we still had a chance to win the game.” Atlanta failed to convert any FG’s in the final minute, giving Chicago a clear road to a victory.
In a game that featured 13 times tied and 13 lead changes, officiating became the game’s dominating focus. A total of 58 personal fouls were called and both teams combined for 81 total foul shots being taken. Meadors briefly spoke about the game’s officiating following the loss.
“There were 42 free throws on one side and 39 on the other. I thought this was a professional game. That’s a lot of free throws.”
Two technical fouls were called against Atlanta both stemming from arguments regarding Sky center Sylvia Fowls apparently hitting other players with elbows. The second technical came against the Atlanta bench following an injury to forward Sancho Lyttle. Lyttle was struck on the left side of her face following an apparent elbow from Sylvia and laid on the floor unconscious. While Lyttle laid on the court unconscious, the officials gave the foul against Atlanta. Meadors
“They didn’t even know that she was down. That’s how poorly they were aware of what was going on around them.”
Following the game, team officials confirmed that Lyttle suffered a concussion from the hit and her status is unknown for Wednesday night’s game against Connecticut.
Despite the loss, Atlanta remains in first place of the Eastern Conference and Meadors appears confident about her team’s ability to continuing winning following a tough physical loss. “We’ll fight back, we don’t ever quit.” The Dream finishes their home stand Wednesday night against the Connecticut Sun with tip-off scheduled for 7 pm.
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