Rhyne Howard scored 10 of her 20 points in the third quarter, and the Atlanta Dream beat the visiting Chicago Sky 83-65 on Tuesday night.

Allisha Gray and rookie Haley Jones each scored 13 points, while Cheyenne Parker added 10 with eight rebounds for the Dream (2-2), who shot 42.9 percent and controlled the entire contest for their first home win.

Atlanta snapped a four-game skid to Chicago by holding the advantage in points off turnovers (17-9), points in the paint (42-28) and fast-break points (21-5).

Dana Evans had 11 points for the Sky (3-2), who shot 32.5 percent and committed 16 turnovers. Playing without injured key contributors Morgan Bertsch, Rebekah Gardner and Isabelle Harrison, the Sky lost for the first time in three 2023 road games.

The Dream led by as many as 17 in the first half and by 15 at the break. Chicago got within nine points on three occasions in the third quarter.

Yet, Atlanta answered each time. Kahleah Copper’s 3-pointer made it 56-47 with 2:29 remaining in the period. Howard followed with a basket, then later knocked down a trey as the Dream closed the third on an 11-2 spurt to lead 67-49.

The Sky got within 69-59 following a pair of free throws from Kristine Anigwe, but the Dream followed with a 12-0 run. Thanks in part to four points from Howard and 3s by Nia Coffey and Jones, Atlanta made it 81-59 with 4:16 left in regulation.

Chicago scored the first basket of the game, then Atlanta recorded the next 10 points. With the help of six first-quarter points from Gray, the Dream led 18-8 with 1:39 remaining in the opening period. However, the Sky used a 5-1 spurt to close the quarter.

Two free throws from Evans got the Sky within 25-19 at the 6:43 mark of the second, but Atlanta went on a 9-0 run. The Dream pushed their lead to 40-23 on a pair of Gray free throws before Copper hit a jumper with 7.1 seconds remaining before halftime.

–Field Level Media