The Dream had a chance to get back to where they wanted to be and that is being over .500. On June 19, they started their five-game homestand against the Minnesota Lynx. The Dream fell to Minnesota but bounced back to defeat Chicago two days later. Then, the Dream dropped two consecutive home games to Phoenix and San Antonio and their record fell to 2-7.
On June 30, the Dream ended their homestand as they took on the New York Liberty and the Dream came away with an 87-81 win.
Erika De Souza led the Dream with 27 points and Lindsey Harding added a season-high 25. It looked as if the Dream were not going to come away with their third victory of the year as New York jumped to a 17-7 lead midway through the first quarter. The Dream was able to cut the lead to single digits midway through the second quarter thanks to a 14-4 run.
In the third quarter, the Dream went on a 17-5 run and took the lead for the first time with 30 seconds left in the third. After that it was all Atlanta, as Harding, de Souza and Armintine Price came up with huge baskets in the fourth quarter to help the Dream defeat the Liberty for the second time this season.
GUESS WHO’S BACK…
After the Dream earned the hard-fought win against New York, they received more good news a few days later. They reinstated Sancho Lyttle who missed the last six games because she was competing for Spain in EuroBasket Women 2011 which is a qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics.
Lyttle presence was missed because she was averaging 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and three steals per game for the Dream this season. Because the Dream reinstated Lyttle, they had to waive Kelly Mazzante who was signed on Jun. 6. Mazzante played in six games for the Dream and averaged 5.7 minutes per game.
Lyttle was back with the team, but she could not play in the next game which was last Saturday against the Chicago Sky due to a sore back. And the Dream could have used her because they lost to Chicago 81-69. The Dream was able to get off to a fast start, leading 22-10 at the end of the first quarter. But Chicago’s Epiphanny Prince and Courtney Vandersloot scored a combined 40 points to help the Sky rally past the Dream and Chicago improved its record to 6-6. Angel McCoughtry led the Dream with 17 points and de Souza added 14.
The Dream played New York for the final time this season on Wednesday, but results were not available before press time. Their next game will be on Saturday as they host Chicago at 7:30 p.m. It will be a special game for the Dream because it will be Sueno Latino Night. Before the game, there will be a mariachi band performing and during halftime the exercise craze Zumba will take over Philips Arena. To purchase tickets go to wnba.com/dream.
NO POWER…
Each week, the WNBA release power rankings where they analyze which team is playing the best and which team needs to do some more work. After the fifth week, the Dream come in at No. 10 and that is not good because there are 12 teams in the league. One of the things they said why the Dream is struggling because McCoughtry is only averaging 15 points per game, which is significantly lower than last season, as she was averaging 21 point per game. Another reason the Dream is not playing as well as they would like to is Lyttle has been missing in action. She has only played in four games due to injury and playing in an international tournament.
Not only will it be Sueno Latino Night at the Dream’s next home game on Saturday, it will also be first time the Dream Facebook Fan Zone comes together. The Facebook Fan Zone is where fans who purchase tickets thorough Facebook watches the game together. The fans also get a t-shirt, meet a Dream player after the game and get a chance to win $150 off 2012 season tickets. Go to facebook.com/atlantadream to find out more information.
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