The Dream’s five-game winning streak was snapped with a 86-79 loss to Washington on Sunday at Philips Arena.
The crisp offense and improved defense that carried the squad to the best record in the Eastern Conference (6-2) were undone by a Mystics (3-6) team that efficiently hit 3-pointers (9-of-21) and turned a 13-10 advantage in offensive rebounds into 22 points.
“This is the WNBA, all teams are good,” Dream coach Michael Cooper said. “You don’t go on people’s records; who go on you are playing. They deserved to win.”
Angel McCoughtry led the Dream with 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting, but Cooper, after noting he has praised her during the winning streak, said there are times in games where she needs to get her teammates involved in the offense. She led the team with four turnovers and had two assists.
“She’s got to make other people better,” Cooper said. “When you can draw a double- or triple-team that means someone else is open.”
Center Elizabeth Williams added a career-high 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks. No other Dream player scored more than eight. Tiffany Hayes had one point and went 0-for-9. Washington had five players score at least 10 points, led by Tayler Hill’s 17.
It was not the offensive or defensive performance that Cooper wanted to see with unbeaten and reigning champ Minnesota (7-0), led by Maya Moore, coming to Philips on Friday in the second game of the four-game homestand.
“You don’t want to lose, but if you are going to lose let it be this game so we can get ready for the next four,” Cooper said. “If we win five, lose one, I can take that all season.”
The team will face Minnesota without Sancho Lyttle, who leaves on Monday to try to help Spain qualify for the Summer Olympics in Rio. Cooper said they are in the process of trying sign a player to fill Lyttle’s spot, and hopes to have something finalized by Wednesday. She is third in the league in rebounds per game (8.9) and first in total steals (21). She will miss the next four games.
Just as in four of their previous six victories this season, the Dream trailed Sunday’s game at halftime 44-43 despite jumping to an 11-2 lead in the game’s opening minutes. That was followed by a clock-related delay and the Atlanta’s offense was never the same.
“If the game could have been over in the first two minutes, it would have been great,” Cooper said. “that lull really hurt us. It let them get into the game a little bit more with strategy.”
Entering the fourth quarter trailing by eight, the Dream cut it to five on a 3-pointer by Carla Cortijo. But Williams was called for blocking, her fourth foul, just a few seconds later and had to be subbed out with 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Washington began to attack inside and built an 11-point lead on a three-point play by Tianna Hawkins with 7:23 left.
McCoughtry picked her fourth foul on a wild drive to the basket with 7:11 remaining. The Dream weren’t able to get closer than seven in the rest of the game.
“We can’t take for granted our success and our winning streak,” McCoughtry said. “We have to come out and play every game hard and not take anyone for granted.”
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