The Dream vowed to finish the season better than they started it after returning from the Olympic Break. Unfortunately, they were unable to cash in on their goal, as they lost two games by wide margins last week.
Atlanta made their return on Friday in a 98-72 loss to the Connecticut Sun. The score was close after the first quarter, with the Dream trailing just 26-21 and looking good in spurts. They lost control afterwards, however, getting outscored 55-33 over the next two quarters.
“We stopped running our offense [after the first quarter],” said head coach Marynell Meadors. “We started going one-on-one all the time and we aren’t good enough to do that.”
Betty Lennox led the way with 19 points, while Kristin Haynie notched six assists off the bench. The top story was the Sun’s magnificent shooting, an incredible 54.7 percent from the field, including 7-for-11 from behind the arc. Tamika Whitmore scored 27 and Asjha Jones dropped 24.
Our defense wasn’t strong tonight,” Meadors said. “We gave up too many easy baskets.”
Things didn’t get any easier on Saturday in Indiana. The Fever took home an 87-72 victory in a game where they took a 27-11 lead after one quarter and never looked back.
“We helped them on their runs,” Meadors said. “We fought hard and played hard from start to finish.”
Betty Lennox again led the way offensively, scoring 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Tamika Catchings, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Katie Douglas all scored at least 21 points.
ON DECK
Just four games remain in the inaugural Dream season. Atlanta plays the first of those four at Madison Square Garden against the New York Liberty. One of the Dream’s toughest losses of the season came in an 81-77 home defeat to New York on June 11. Atlanta blew an 11-point lead in the final six minutes en route to the loss. Controlling Janel McCarville down low will be critical. McCarville is averaging 23 points per game against the Dream this year.
Then it’s back home to face Indiana for the fourth and final time. One of Atlanta’s three wins came on the road at Indiana on July 16. The Fever are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Douglas leads the way for Indiana, averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the year.
DESOUZA FINALLY HEALTHY
Although she couldn’t join her Brazilian teammates in Beijing after re-injuring her leg just before the Olympic Break, Erika DeSouza made sure to stay productive during the last month, as she is now back in shape and has looked impressive since making her return. DeSouza has missed 22 games this year.
“I think we’d be a lot better [if we had DeSouza],” Meadors said.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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