In a tale of two halves, the Atlanta Dream woke up the defense in the second half to pull out a 77-70 victory over the San Antonio Stars. Perhaps it was the early 11:30 AM start, something was lethargic causing them to play out of sync being down to the defeated Stars (0-5) by three at the half 39-36. The fewest points any team has scored this season.
Head coach Michael Cooper said “We played against a team that was fighting real hard, trying not to stay defeated. In those types of games, it’s not necessarily about what you do but who you are.” The Dream has been playing well to start the season (3-1) coming off a victory over defending WNBA Champion the Sparks behind the outstanding play of Tiffany Hayes. She stepped up again today leading the Dream with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Layshia Clarendon who ranks third in WNBA assists had a game-high eight assists and 13 points. Bria Holmes pitched in a solid 15 points.
Monique Currie led San Antonio with 14 points while Dearica Hamby contributed 13 in a losing effort to start the season (0-6).
Sancho Lytle added 14 points with eight rebounds and the best explanation of the team’s performance. “We came out a little lackluster at the beginning, and we had to pick it up. They have good shooters and good spacers, so we were a little too spread out at first until we figured out where we were supposed to be then the game was different.”
Alexander was successful on a hook shot with 3.38 remaining in the third to tie the score at 49-49. The Stars frustration surfaced giving Hayes a free toss due to a technical foul. She broke the tie, and the Dream became a nightmare. The Atlanta Dream went on a 8 point scoring streak before they could make another basket making 57-51. It got interesting when McBridge made a jumper at the 4.53 mark in the fourth quarter to make the score 62-65.
The teams exchanged baskets as the clock ticked, to preserve precious time the Stars had to foul sending Clarendon to the free throw line she nailed 10 out of 14 attempts to seal the victory for the Atlanta Dream 77-70.
Interesting Facts of the game
- Stars had 11 blocks to Dream 5
- Bench Points Stars contributed 45 – Dream had only 13
- Points off turnovers Dream scored 26 – Stars 13
- Turnovers Stars gave away 22 – Dream 14
The difference in the game “points off turnovers”
