When the Dream stopped Washington’s 3-point shots, they were able to take control of Wednesday’s game.
Angel McCoughtry tied her season-high with 27 points, and the Dream’s defense held the Mystics scoreless for a stretch of close to six minutes in the fourth quarter to lead the Dream to an 83-73 victory at Philips Arena.
It was the Dream’s fifth consecutive victory and second in as many games against the Mystics.
The Dream (8-3) won despite Washington (5-7) making eight of its 13 3-pointers through the first three quarters. The Mystics, who entered the game as the league’s worst 3-point shooting team (28.3 percent), missed all four of their 3-point shots in the fourth quarter.
“For 80 percent of that game they controlled the tempo,” Dream coach Michael Cooper said. “That was one thing we were trying to guard against. But I like our team’s ability to bounce back. We kept our poise and executed down the stretch.”
Cooper said they wanted to get closer to Washington shooters Bria Hartley and Ivory Latta, who combined to score 18 points on six 3-pointers in the first half. After adjusting his team’s pick-and-roll coverage, the Dream slowed the duo in the second half. Hartley added seven points in the second half to finish with 16, while Latta was held scoreless.
“We made them stop shooting, got in their face,” McCoughtry said. “We would rather let them have 2’s than 3’s.”
The Dream offset Washington’s 3-point accuracy by outscoring the Mystics in the paint, 48-28, and at the free-throw line, 20-3.
Tiffany Hayes added 11 points and Erika de Souza 10, and Sancho Lyttle scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Dream.
The game remained close until early in the fourth quarter when the Dream started a 14-0 run to secure the victory. Consecutive baskets by McCoughtry, followed by an assist from McCoughtry to de Souza, helped the Dream take a 69-66 lead.
McCoughtry followed with two free throws to push the Dream’s lead to 71-66 with 5:34 left.
The Dream stretched the lead to 73-66 on a length-of-the-floor pass from Lyttle to Hayes, who beat two defenders to catch the ball and made the layup with 3:57 left.
Lyttle made two free throws to give the Dream a 77-66 lead with 2:11 left.
“They were aggressive, drove well to the basket and our turnovers gave them a few easy buckets during that key run,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said. “They upped the aggression with the pressure, and we did a bad job of responding.”
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