Improved Dream pounds Mystics

New-and-improved certainly is the best way to describe the Atlanta Dream.

They are also bigger and better where it counts most in basketball, inside.

They used that extra height and bulk to their advantage against Washington on Friday night, pounding the Mystics on the boards en route to a 93-78 win at Philips Arena.

Sancho Lyttle, Michelle Snow and Chamique Holdsclaw did most of the damage early as the Dream wore down the Mystics with their relentless pursuit of the ball.

Starting center and leading rebounder Erika DeSouza was on the bench for all but three minutes of the first half with early foul trouble, but it didn’t matter on this night, not with the 6-foot-5 Snow and the 6-4 Lyttle controlling the area around the basket with plenty of help from Holdsclaw, who is 6-2.

They combined for 23 of the Dream’s 27 rebounds before halftime and helped them build a 46-31 rebounding edge on the night.

“We’ve got some powerful post players,” said Dream general manager and coach Marynell Meadors. “We knew that when we went and got them and got them to sign here. And they are playing at a high level right now.”

Last season the Dream played often without the 6-5 DeSouza, who missed 22 games with a fractured leg, but didn’t have the kind of reinforcements they have now.

Lyttle picked up the slack Friday night, and she didn’t just lead the charge on the glass. She led the Dream in scoring as well, finishing her night with 20 points and 13 rebounds in her second start of the season.

“Rebounding is one of my strengths,” Lyttle said. “Like Coach always tells me, if you see a rebound you’ve got to go get it. And some of those rebounds led to points, and that’s how I got 20 points.”

All five Dream starters scored in double-figures. Holdsclaw finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. DeSouza added 13 and five. Iziane Castro Marques scored 12 points, and Nikki Teasley finished with 12 points and a team-high four assists.

Snow finished with nine points and seven rebounds and didn’t even play in the second half with DeSouza back in the flow.

As tireless as they were on defense and on the glass, the Dream was just as potent on offense, particularly when it mattered most.

It was a 3-pointer on a fast break from Teasley with 2:33 to play in the third quarter that pushed their lead to 16. That lead eventually grew to 21 points before the Mystics finally started clawing their way back with a late charge.

But it was another 3-pointer from Teasley with 1:22 to play that gave the Dream an 88-74 lead, helping slow down the Mystics late and seal the win, which Meadors described as the most “decisive” in franchise history.

All the work Meadors did to revamp the roster is paying early dividends. The Dream is 3-2 with a chance to match last season’s win total with a win over visiting New York Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

“This a totally different team [from last year],” Meadors said. “We’ve got seven new players, and we’re just now starting to play together. All the games we’ve played, we’ve played really, really well with the exception of the Chicago game. And when it’s like that, I think your starters are going to step up. And that’s what is happening with us right now.”