With the defensive quickness and leadership of guard Layshia Clarendon, the Dream defeated the San Antonio Stars 77-70 on Wednesday afternoon after trailing by double-digits in the first half.
After falling behind by a game-high of 12 points in the second quarter, the Dream went on a 14-4 run and narrowed the Stars lead to one point — the closest the score had been since the first three minutes of the game. At the half, the Stars led 39-36.
"We were just talking, it was like a Buffalo Wild Wings' commercial where like someone put the Saran wrap on the goal," Clarendon said. "Shots just weren't going in and a little bit of that is fatigue. … Those are gonna happen for the best teams (and) the worst teams, so you just have to find a way to pull it out."
"We didn't start off well enough and I think I kind of took that personally," Clarendon said. "I don't think I started with enough energy. Early games are kind of hard sometimes. Quick turnaround from the last (Los Angeles Sparks) game which is really draining. So for me, I was kind of holding myself accountable like 'You need to bring it right now as a leader and just as a player on the team.'"
In addition to Clarendon’s leadership, the scoring trio of Holmes, Tiffany Hayes and Sancho Lyttle allowed the Dream to take the lead late in the third quarter and hold onto it.
Hayes scored a team-high 16 points, and Lyttle scored 14.
“You know we have some players like Tiffany and Bria Holmes who drive and penetrate and when they’re doing that that’s we’re really good,” Cooper said. “So what we’re doing is making the game really, really easy. Stop over thinking it, stop over passing and just play and I thought when we did that we were able to get back in the game.”
One of the Stars’ seven players who came off the bench was Kelsey Plum, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft. Plum made her inaugural appearance in Atlanta on Wednesday when she entered the game near the end of the first quarter.
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