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Fowles leads Sky over Dream

Aug 18, 2010 - 2:20 AM ATLANTA (AP) -- If the Atlanta Dream fail to get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they can just look towards their play against the Chicago Sky.

Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Epiphanny Prince scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Sky rallied to defeat the Dream 84-79 on Tuesday night.

Atlanta (18-14) has lost five of its last six games to fall to the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The top two teams get home court for the first round of the postseason and only a slim chance remains of Atlanta finishing second.

"We just didn't have it," Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. "We didn't run our offense. Just a lack of focus, for whatever reason. We should be building momentum going into the playoffs."

The Dream are 10-6 at home with a game to go against Washington on Sunday, but last-place Chicago (14-18) won all three games in Atlanta this season.

"Atlanta is a good team and it is hard to win here," Fowles said. "To beat them all three games feels good. It's disappointing not to make the playoffs, but this shows how good we can be."

The Dream led 73-65 with 6:15 left before Chicago rallied behind Fowles. Her free throw gave the Sky a 78-77 lead with a minute left.

Prince then had a basket and two free throws to expand the lead. Iziane Castro Marques scored with six seconds remaining to cut the lead to three points, but Dominique Canty sealed the win for the Sky with two free throws.

Castro Marques had 19 points to lead the Dream. Angel McCoughtry scored 16 points and Yelena Leuchanka grabbed 11 rebounds. Canty had 17 points and Jia Perkins scored 15 for Chicago.

The Dream snapped a four-game losing streak and clinched a playoff spot with 98-74 rout of the Sky in Chicago on Saturday, breaking the game open with a 31-11 edge in the second quarter and leading by as many as 35 points.

"That last game was a very testing time," Fowles said. "It tested our character. They brought it to us and we didn't want that to happen again."

The Dream took a 65-63 lead into the final quarter by scoring the final six points of the third - the last two baskets coming from Coco Miller. Perkins had seven points, Canty scored six and the Sky built a 58-53 lead midway in the period with a 15-6 run.

"It was a tough game," Castro Marques said. "Both teams had the lead, had the momentum during the game. At the end, we didn't have what it took to finish the game."

Atlanta went up 39-31 lead midway in the second quarter with a 16-3 run and was up 45-43 at halftime after Chicago briefly regained the lead at 41-39 thanks a 10-0 streak. The Dream shot 56.7 percent in the first half and the Sky made 54.3 percent.

Fowles had 13 points and nine rebounds at the intermission and Canty scored nine. McCoughtry led the Dream with eight first-half points.