KEY RUNS
• The Sky went on a 14-4 run to lead 21-12 in the first quarter
• Atlanta’s 11-0 run, which continued into the second quarter, gave it a 23-21 lead over Chicago
• The Dream finished the first half on a 12-4 run to lead 44-36
• Chicago opened the third quarter with a 17-6 spurt, taking a 53-50 lead
• Atlanta ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 63-61 advantage heading into the fourth
• The Sky went on a 10-2 Sky run to lead 76-71
KEY STATS
• Chicago outrebounded the Dream 36-27
• In the second half, Chicago outshot Atlanta 50% to 38.5%
• Atlanta’s bench outscored the Sky’s 33-14, but the Sky’s starters outscored the Dream’s 73-50
CHICAGO NOTES
• The Sky have swept the season series with the Dream, 3-0
• Chicago improves to 29-18 all-time against Atlanta overall and 14-11 in Atlanta
• Courtney Vandersloot posted her fifth double-double of the season, as she scored 14 points and dished 10 assists
• Astou Ndour scored a season-high 14 points, matched a career high with 10 rebounds and tied her season high with four blocks
• Diamond DeShields’ 17 second-half points match the most she’s scored in a second half this season. It was the second time this season she had gone scoreless in the first half
• Stefanie Dolson scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds, a game after going scoreless and reboundless for the first time in her career
ATLANTA NOTES
• The Dream have lost their twelfth consecutive game
• Tiffany Hayes eclipsed the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season, as she scored a game-high 27 points and attempted a career-high 24 field goals. Hayes’ 18 second-half points are the second-most she’s scored in a second half in her career
• Nia Coffey, who attended Northwestern University, has set a season high with three assists
• Marie Gulich, making her first career start in her 48th WNBA game, scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds, also attempting a career-high five 3s
• Monique Billings matched her career high with eight defensive rebounds and also recorded a career-high three blocks
• Alex Bentley scored in double figures for the eleventh time this season, posting 10 points along with five assists but fouling out for the third time in her seventh WNBA season
• Former Sky center Alaina Coates played a season-high 21 minutes, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds and recording a career-high three blocks
• Former Sky forward Jessica Breland matched a season-low two points
POSTGAME QUOTES
SKY GENERAL MANAGER AND HEAD COACH JAMES WADE
On what was different in tonight’s game:
“It’s the same. We went on a run, and I felt like when we changed rotations, it hurt us a little bit because we lost our intensity. We played a little bit too cool because we thought they were just going to let us just go off in the game. It’s a tough team – like I was telling you before the game – and when you have to play 40 minutes against them, their record really doesn’t justify or show who they really are. It’s hard to win games in this league, and it’s hard to win here. Every game that we played them went down to the wire, but I felt like we relaxed seven minutes into the game, and it took us a while to get it back.”
On the message to the team at halftime:
“We just talked about not losing our intensity. Like I said, we lost it seven minutes into the game. I felt like we needed 20 minutes of that same intensity that we had for seven minutes in the first half. If we could do that for 20 minutes, then we would win the game.”
On Diamond DeShields’ performance:
“She’s capable to do that for 40 minutes. I felt like, at halftime, we challenged her, and she had to challenge herself a little bit to come back from a game like that – in the second half – midway – just turn around.”
SKY GUARD DIAMOND DESHIELDS
On creating energy in the game:
“Well, tonight, we got off to a slow start. We allowed Atlanta to kind-of create some energy. That was something that we had to deal with. We know that the position as far as the standings go. A team like that is dangerous – especially at home – but we were able to come in here and kind-of keep it together and get a win. It was a tough one. Credit to Atlanta. They’re a good team. They’ve got great players. I’m just proud of the way we were able to pull through and get the win tonight.”
On the difference between the first half and second half:
“We just kind-of had to focus on us. We knew this was a game that we needed. Despite rankings and records, winning this game and it was one that we needed. We have some tough games coming up. To position ourselves better for the playoffs, we knew this was one that we couldn’t let slip. We just went out there and tried to pull ourselves back together, and we were able to get the win.”
SKY CENTER ASTOU NDOUR
On tonight’s game:
“This was an important win because we needed it to make the playoffs … We came here and played our basketball like we do every time.”
DREAM HEAD COACH NICKI COLLEN
On the bench’s effort:
“I just feel bad for our guys. I thought they battled really, really hard. Not having Elizabeth (Williams), (Jessica) Breland was sick, didn’t come to shoot around. … To immediately basically be down two starting posts against a team that’s pretty deep and versatile, it’s tough for us, but I thought our bench was excellent. (Alex Bentley) didn’t get a ton of minutes and fouled out, but our bench was — all five of them were on the positive on the plus/minus considerably.”
On Tiffany Hayes:
“I thought Hayes obviously had a huge game late. I definitely think she got fouled on the last play, but you’re gonna get some and you’re gonna not get some. The one thing I know about Tiffany Hayes is if they’d have called a foul there, it would have been a tie game because she doesn’t miss under a minute. Disappointed for us to not get to play out a tie game which I thought our guys really deserved, but you don’t want to leave it up to one play.”
On Alaina Coates:
“It was kind of fun to see Coates get a few more minutes and show some fire out there. She hasn’t played very much in two years, since late in her senior year at South Carolina when she injured her ankle. To go from that to an offseason ankle surgery to not getting any run last year in Chicago. It’s been a long time since she really ran up and down and kind of showed what she was capable of doing, so good things there.”
DREAM CENTER ALAINA COATES
On settling in with Atlanta:
“I just kinda settled down and kinda just lost myself out there. I wasn’t thinking too much about calculating everything, just went out there. I was staying ready for when my name was called and my name was called. I knew I could go out there and make some type of impact. That was something I’ve always said I wanted to do coming out here was be a spark off the bench, bring some energy, and so I wanted to do that.”
DREAM GUARD ALEX BENTLEY
On consistency of late:
“I just go hard when I step on the floor. Do what I can for our teammates, try to be an energizer bunny for us. We love to play fast and that’s what I love to do too. Just working hard.”