CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Howard scored 32 points and the Atlanta Dream pulled away in the closing minutes to defeat the Chicago Sky for the second time in three days, pulling off an 88-77 victory Sunday night.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Dream surged forward by harvesting three turnovers en route to its fifth consecutive win.
Cheyenne Parker scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Atlanta, who won five straight games five years ago. Daniel Robinson and Alisha Gray each added 11. Howard had six rebounds, four assists, four pass assists and a block.
The local Cooper team took second place over Chicago (8-11), with 28 points. Courtney Williams added 14 points and Elizabeth Williams 13 with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Howard hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter for a 47-35 Atlanta lead but the Sky came back behind Cooper, who had 16 points in the quarter. Sky took the lead twice but Howard dropped 3 in the final seconds for a 68-67 advantage.
One Chicago lead, 61-60, came when Marina Mabry made two free throws at the 1:56 mark after Nia Coffey was called for a hard 1 when Alanna Smith was hit in the head. Smith went to the locker room and never came back.
The last Sky lead was 67-65 after Dana Evans made two free throws with nine seconds left in the game, but Howard erased Atlanta’s victory in the fourth quarter again. The Dream also led one entering the fourth quarter on Friday before winning 82-68.
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