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 Chicago Sky

Delle Donne Fuels Historic Comeback, Sky Advance to Eastern Conference Finals

August 27, 2014 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


CHICAGO- Elena Delle Donne scored a career-high 34 points, including the game winner with 8.2 seconds remaining, as the Sky overcame a 16-point fourth quarter deficit en route to an 81-80 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night at Philips Arena. The Sky's come-from-behind win marked the first time since the league switched from "two halves" to "four quarters" that a team won a playoff game after trailing by at least sixteen points at the end of the third quarter. With the win, Chicago advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.

"Last year, we went down in big both games and we crumbled," said Sky guard/forward Elena Delle Donne. "This year, we went down just as big, but we fought back. I think that is because of all the adversity we had to face this season, and we have really grown and matured as a group."

Tamera Young started the game strong, scoring six points and dishing out three assists to pace the Sky offense through the first quarter. However, behind 56.3% shooting from the field, the Dream jumped out to a 30-17 lead at the end of the first.

Elena Delle Donne erupted for 13 points in the second quarter to keep the Sky within striking distance. After the teams played to an even 24-24 tie in the quarter, the score at the break was 54-41. Delle Donne led the Sky at the half with 15 points while Young had 10 points and four assists.

Neither the Sky nor the Dream could establish an offensive rhythm during the third quarter. The two team combined for just 23 points in a low scoring third quarter as the Sky trailed 67-51 heading into the fourth.

The Sky showed no signs of giving up in the fourth quarter and scored seven unanswered points in a one minute time span to cut the deficit to just 10 points, 72-62, with 6:56 remaining in the game. From that point on, it was all Chicago. Delle Donne scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone to lead Chicago on 19-2 run to tie the game with 3:33 remaining. Down one point, with 16.2 seconds remaining, the Sky drew up a play to get the ball in Delle Donne's hands and she delivered the game-winning basket with 8.2 seconds remaining and the Sky pulled out the 81-80 victory.

The Sky returns home to Chicago to prepare for their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Fever. The first game of the series will be held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday, August 30. The game will air on NBATV beginning at 6:00 p.m. CT. The Sky returns to Chicago to host the second game of the series on Monday, September 1 at Allstate Arena. Tip-off is set for 3:00pm CT. To purchase tickets to see the Sky play in their first-ever Eastern Conference Finals series, call 866.SKY.WNBA or visit www.chicagosky.net.

Postgame Notes Chicago Sky 81, Atlanta Dream 80

NOTES

* Chicago trailed in Atlanta tonight by 16 points at the end of the third quarter (67-51) but outscored the Dream 30-13 in the fourth quarter to win, 81-80. This was the first time since the league switched from "two halves" to "four quarters" that a team won a playoff game after trailing by at least sixteen points at the end of the third quarter. The 2006 season marked the first year of four-quarter games. * The Sky used a 19-2 run to turn a 72-55 deficit with 8:12 left into a 74-74 tie with 3:33 remaining. After Atlanta grabbed a 78-74 lead, the Sky closed with a 7-2 run, with Elena Delle Donne scoring the winning basket with 8.2 seconds left * Elena Delle Donne scored a career-high 34 points, including 17 points in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter. Delle Donne nailed the game winning shot with 8.2 seconds remaining to help the Sky secure an 81-80 victory. * Chicago advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time in franchise history.

* Tamera Young scored a playoff and season high 16 points and added five assists. * Chicago committed just nine turnovers against an Atlanta defense that forced the most turnovers in the league. * All-Star Game MVP Shoni Schimmel only scored 2 points, her only bucket coming in the final minute, but had five rebounds and six assists. * The Atlanta Dream had all five starters score in double figures, led by Erika de Souza with 18. Angel McCoughtry coming off 39 points in Game 2 was held to 18 points on Tuesday night. * Atlanta's forward Sancho Lyttle recorded the only double-double for the Dream with 14 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four assists.

QUOTES

Chicago Sky Head Coach Pokey Chatman

(Opening statement...)

"It was just a resilient effort by my team. Obviously, Atlanta owned us for much of the game. They had more offensive rebounds than we had total rebounds at the half. They were having our way us in terms of points in the paint. Everything was not in our favor, but we stayed the course, and when it got late it became time for players to make plays. My big time player (Delle Donne) stepped up. But none of that matters if they don't stay the course, trust the process and keep digging, digging and digging. I was extremely happy we did that."

(On their game plan throughout the night...)

"We just kept reminding them about the defensive schemes. That meant paying a lot of attention to Angel and not letting her beat us, plus not allowing the easy entry-passes with the interior defense. We had a couple of timeouts when we really didn't talk basketball. We just had a coming to Jesus and trying to figure things out."

(On Tamara Young's performance against McCoughtry...)

"She had the tough task of guarding and trying to disrupt Angel. Sometimes it can get frustrating, but Tamara did a great job - even in that big spurt when the technical was called on Angel. She reacted by getting back and playing defense and staying the course. I will say this - she has done that all year for us, even when everyone else was down. So it is nice on this stage tonight that her growth and maturity showed in a place where everyone can appreciate it."

Chicago Sky Guard/Forward Elena Delle Donne

(On taking over the game in the fourth quarter...)

"I just know that when we were in huddles and I was talking to the team, everyone had that look in their eye like we were not done yet - we were not ready to go home. I knew we were playing pretty good defense, just not doing the little things like finishing with a rebound, finishing with a contested shot. In the fourth quarter, coach put the ball in my hands, the team trusted me and it just went from there."

(On the impact of last year's playoff elimination being motivation this year...)

"I am thrilled for this team. Last year, we went down big both games and we crumbled. This year, we went down just as big, but we fought back. I think that is because of all the adversity we had to face this season, and we have really grown and matured as a group."

Chicago Sky Forward Tamera Young

(On the fourth quarter comeback...)

"We just knew that we had the momentum. It was almost like after Angel [McCoughtry] got that tech, we just started cheering for each other and telling each other that this is our moment. We just stuck together and stayed poised. We got defensive stops and we started running the transition to make Atlanta go back on their heels. We started scoring and getting stops and that's what helped us come back."

(On the tough task of guarding Angel McCoughtry...)

"I know that if I stayed composed, no matter how dirty she tried to play, that I could get in her head eventually. I tagged her coming off screens and just tried to be wherever she was. I knew this was a big game so I tried to stay focused and stay ready."

(On playing Indiana, especially coming off last years series...)

"I feel really confident in this team and we've had a lot of adversity. We were down by 20 some points tonight and we came all the way back with a win. We know what Indiana does. We know how they play, and we know what we have to do. It's not really about them; it's about us. We have the momentum right now and that gives us more confidence to be prepared."

Atlanta Dream Head Coach Michael Cooper

(Opening statement...)

"I would like to congratulate Chicago. It's like a Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fight, you have 'em on the ropes a few quarters of the game and sometimes your great players will wheel you again. Just like in Game 2 where Angel came and brought it for us to help us get here, Delle Donne came and brought it for them. So, congratulations to them. But for the game, we had control of it. But just like you have to learn how to win on the road, you have to learn how to win at home."

(On losing intensity in the fourth quarter...)

"I don't think it was intensity, but I think we got away from what we were doing well. I thought the execution of our offense kind of went out the window a little bit. We started to take some quick shots and some bad shots. And then our defense kind of got away from us. Again, we still have to give a lot of credit to Chicago because they did what they had to do to stay in this game. They didn't necessarily keep it close - we were on the verge of closing it out - but when they got it close, they kept it close."

(On defending Delle Donne...)

"Well she didn't play the game that she played in Game 2. We were able to nullify that. In Game 2 she kept jumping but in this game here she was taking the ball to the basket, and I don't think we were able to adjust. Angel played her perfectly all this game, but it just so happens that she got away from us and hit those last two baskets. But again, one player is not necessarily going to win the whole game for you, because she could've gotten 34 points and we won the game. But it was those key four points down the stretch that pulled them close and gave them the lead."

Atlanta Dream Foward Sancho Lyttle

(On the team not playing so well in the end...)

"I think we were playing to win the game. But I feel, for me, after we saw they were coming back, our mentality was that we needed to score, we needed to get the ball in the basket. But we stopped executing, we stopped doing the things that made us go up by 20 points. Then all of a sudden, it was one- point lead and we were looking up like 'how did this happen?' But if you go back to the tape, we made it happen."


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