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Things are getting even tighter in the Eastern Conference standings and the Atlanta Dream can't seem to shake their recent struggles. Atlanta's completed a winless four-game road trip on Sunday with an 80-69 loss. The Dream have a two game lead over second place Washington with just three games left to play.
Atlanta's task on Sunday got more difficult as they learned they would be without leading scorer Angel McCoughtry who missed the game due to tendinitis in both feet. McCoughtry was on the bench cheering her teammates on and her status will likely be updated later on.
The Dream got off to a good enough start but just lacked the offensive firepower to hold on. Atlanta grabbed an early lead but the Sky rallied to take a 21-20 lead at the end of one. Both teams struggled offensively in the second but a pair of three-pointers from Shoni Schimmel helped Atlanta to a 36-32 lead at the half.
Chicago started to chip away in the third quarter and the game started to slip away from Atlanta. Allie Quigley hit back-to-back threes in the final moments of the third quarter to give the Sky a 55-53 lead heading to the fourth. Tiffany Hayes and Sancho Lyttle continued to battle and tried to keep Atlanta close but Elena Delle Donne scored nine of her 15 points in the final 10 minutes to help seal the victory.
Lyttle finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Atlanta. Schimmel went 5-7 from three-point range and finished with 15. Hayes finished with 12 points while Celine Dumerc added nine points and six assists. Atlanta shot just 36 percent from the field and just 32 percent in the second half.
Quigley was 5-6 from the field and had five assists to go along with her 17 points. Delle Donne went 4-9 for her 15 points while Jamierra Faulkner added 14. Epiphany Prince and Sylvia Fowles added 13 points each. Fowles also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
Atlanta's road trip mercifully comes to an end but things don't get any easier. The Dream are back at home on Wednesday but will face the Phoenix Mercury who currently own the WNBA's best record. Atlanta suffered a 75-67 loss to the Mercury in the first game of their road trip.