The Atlanta Dream rode the strength of a huge run in the third quarter, and then held on late in the fourth to beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 93-87 to earn their seventh win in eight games.
“I think we played very well,” said Angel McCoughtry. “It’s such an awesome time, because we are winning and we are jelling as a team.”
It was the rookie McCoughtry who inspired Atlanta, scoring a career-high 34 points as she penetrated at will on a helpless Silver Stars defense.
After heading into the fourth with a 71-57 lead, Atlanta appeared to have the game well in hand late, but went 3-for-8 from the free throw line during a two minute stretch late in the game, and a three-point-play from Becky Hammon drew San Antonio within 89-84 with 1:24 remaining.
But Atlanta iced it by getting two offensive rebounds off of consecutive misses, forcing the visitors to foul Shalee Lenning, who finally ended Atlanta’s woes from the charity stripe by draining both to ice the game.
The game was won in the third quarter, as the Dream turned a close a game into a comfortable lead behind a 20-5 run. McCoughtry joined Iziane Castro Marques to combine for 15 points during that time, and back-to-back three-point plays from Castro Marques and Sancho Lyttle gave Atlanta a 71-54 lead with 51 seconds remaining in the period. When all was said and done, the home team had outscored San Antonio 30-20 in the quarter to amass a 14-point lead.
The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half. Atlanta jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, scoring all of those points in the paint. But San Antonio responded with a 14-0 run out of the timeout.
Then McCoughtry entered the game. The rookie immediately scored four straight points to draw Atlanta even after one. And then continued to dominate in the second quarter, ending the half with 17 points.
“She was awesome tonight,” Meadors said, “She just did a lot of incredible things.”
With the win, the Dream advanced their record to 14-11 on the year, keeping their grip on the no. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. McCoughtry added seven rebounds and four to go along with her 34-point outburts. Lyttle checked in with 15 points and eight boards. They are in action again on Sunday, when they host The Los Angeles Sparks at 3 p.m.
Hammon lead San Antonio with 23 points and five dimes, but also turned the ball over six times.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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