Cheyenne Parker scored 15 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter Friday night as the short-handed Atlanta Dream rallied for a 78-67 win over the Chicago Sky in College Park, Ga.
Parker made 10 of 20 shots from the field and 9 of 10 at the foul line, helping Atlanta (16-16) win for just the second time in seven games. Her three-point play with 7:07 left in the game put the Dream ahead for good at 62-61.
Allisha Gray added 20 points and seven rebounds for Atlanta, which feasted in points off turnovers. It forced 17 miscues from Chicago and cashed them in for a whopping 27 points while committing just seven turnovers.
Dana Evans scored 18 points off the bench for the Sky (12-19), who dropped their fourth straight game and fell out of a tie for the No. 8 seed with Los Angeles. Only the top eight teams make the WNBA playoffs.
Kahleah Copper added 14 and Elizabeth Williams chipped in 10 points for Chicago, which was outscored 25-13 in the fourth quarter.
The pregame storyline concerned Atlanta starters Rhyne Howard and Nia Coffey, who were both ruled out with facial and hand injuries, respectively. Howard is the team's leading scorer at 17.5 ppg and Coffey has been a fixture in the frontcourt rotation.
Without the duo, the Dream roared out to a 14-6 lead just over four minutes into the game before Chicago rattled off an 18-2 run to end the first quarter. Robyn Parks capped the outburst with a pullup jumper with 5.4 seconds left.
The margin reached 10 early in the second period before Atlanta used the foul line to rally. The Dream went 11-for-12 at the stripe in the quarter, with Danielle Robinson canning two with 3.2 seconds remaining to give them a 39-37 edge at halftime.
Neither team led by more than five in a back-and-forth third period that concluded with the Sky taking a 54-53 advantage, thanks to Evans' floater with 18.5 seconds on the clock.
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