Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry scored a career-high 39 points to lead her team to a 92-83 victory and tie the Chicago Sky in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs.

McCoughtry slowed down Chicago star Elena Delle Donne in the second half of the ball game as they extended the best-of-three series to a deciding third game on Tuesday.

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"I just wanted to will the team to win," McCoughtry said. "I wanted the ball in my hands and I wanted to take over the game."

Luckily for Atlanta, McCoughtry hit 65 percent of her shots and scored 13 of 14 from free throws.

The only other Dream player to get double digits on scoring was Tiffany Hayes with 15 points.

On the other hand, Delle Donne top scored for the Sky with 22 points who was limited to 0-for-5 shooting in the second half, thanks to All-Defensive First Team McCoughtry, Allie Quigley scored 20 points followed by Epiphanny Prince with 19 points.

The 2009 Rookie of the Year McCoughtry scored 19 points in the first half to edge out Chicago 44-43 at half-time.

Dream went on to lead Sky at the end of the third quarter 62-51 after a baseline drive from McCoughtry. Sky was able to rally 8-1 in the fourth to cut down the lead to six points with 36.5 seconds to go but wasn't able to continue their run.

"(McCoughtry) set the tone early and put her team on her back and you can't have that," Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. "It's a matter of making sure from the beginning we set the tone."

Atlanta is the defending Eastern Conference champions. They lost the last year's WNBA Finals to the Minnesota Lynx 3-0.

If Sky wins Tuesday, they will face the Indiana Fever who already advanced into the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Washington Mystics 2-0 in their playoff series.

TagsAngel McCoughtry, WNBA, Tiffany Hayes, Elena Delle Donne, Allie Quigley, Epiphanny Prince, Chicago Sky