Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Elena Delle Donne's 17 fourth-quarter points fueled a furious late rally that propelled the Chicago Sky into the Eastern Conference finals with a thrilling 81-80 win over the Atlanta Dream in the deciding Game 3 of a WNBA opening-round playoff.
Delle Donne, who tallied 34 points in all, brought the Sky back from a 17- point deficit with eight minutes left. The 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year scored the game's final two baskets, the last coming on a layup with 8.2 seconds left that sent Chicago in front.
Angel McCoughtry, who poured in 39 points in Atlanta's 92-83 Game 2 victory in Chicago on Sunday, then had a last-ditch shot bounce twice off the rim and fall out to end the defending East champions' season.
Tamera Young added 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Sylvia Fowles racked up 13 points and 15 rebounds to help the fourth-seeded Sky advance to a matchup with Indiana in the conference finals.
The top-seeded Dream received 18 points from Erika de Souza and a 14-point, 13-rebound effort out of Sancho Lyttle. McCoughtry finished with 17 points and eight boards, but was just 5-of-18 from the field.
Delle Donne was held to a mere two points and a single shot in the third quarter -- with the Sky trailing 67-51 at period's end -- before catching fire in the fourth and almost single-handedly getting her team back in it.
She came up with a pair of 3-point plays to ignite a game-changing 19-2 run that Delle Donne capped with a long-range triple which forged a 74-74 tie with 3:33 to go.
The Dream answered with back-to-back baskets by de Souza and McCoughtry to go up by four, and owned an 80-77 edge following Shoni Schimmel's contested runner with 29.5 seconds remaining.
Delle Donne hit a layup on the other end to pull Chicago back within one, then had a chance to send the Sky in front after Atlanta's Jasmine Thomas missed two free throw attempts with 17.3 seconds to play.
Following a timeout, Delle Donne drove on McCoughtry and banked a 7-footer off the glass and in for an 81-80 Sky lead, which held up when McCoughtry's shot in traffic rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The Dream dominated much of the first half, building a 30-17 advantage after one quarter and owning a commanding 44-24 lead just past the midway stage of the second. The Sky were able to whittle down the margin, pulling within 11 on a Delle Donne triple 22.8 seconds prior to the intermission before two Tiffany Hayes free throws sent Atlanta into the break up 54-41.
