This season, the Dream haven’t had much trouble striking early. They have held significant halftime leads in four of their first seven games.
Instead, it’s the team’s inability to finish that has come back to haunt the Dream (2-5) in their first five losses.
After jumping to a 12-point halftime lead against Chicago (3-3) on Tuesday, the Dream made sure that another win wouldn’t slip through their fingers. Despite an 11-0 Chicago run to end the third quarter, the Dream were able to answer with timely scoring down the stretch to edge the Sky 71-68.
“It’s that fine line between using the clock and going fast and attacking,” Lindsey Harding said. “I think we did a great job of controlling the tempo throughout the game.”
The Sky all but erased the Dream’s double-digit halftime advantage by the end of the third quarter, narrowing Atlanta’s lead to two. Then, the Sky took the lead with 7:29 remaining in regulation — Chicago’s first lead in nearly three quarters of play.
“This is the WNBA. There are great teams, and they are going to make their runs,” Harding said. “We just have to stop their runs and make ones of our own.”
There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter, but it was the final swing that secured the Dream’s second victory of the season.
“I thought we handled their pressure pretty well,” coach Marynell Meadors said. “We bowed our necks a little bit and stuck right in there in the fourth quarter.”
Erika de Souza regained the lead for the Dream — at 67-66 — with just over 1:30 remaining in the game. On the Dream’s next possession, Harding put them up by four. She made a gutsy layup in traffic and added a free throw for a three-point play.
The Sky answered with a layup, but Harding added another point from the foul line to cement the Dream’s victory.
“When we can get more playing time out of our starters — which we are doing now — I think that it’s going to level out a little bit and everyone will understand their correct role on this team,” Meadors said.
The Dream’s starting five accounted for 51 points. Angel McCoughtry scored a team-high 14 , while de Souza added 12 and Harding added 11. Additionally, the Dream’s bench turned in a solid effort, with Armintie Price and Courtney Paris leading the way with nine points apiece.
“When [the bench] comes in, it’s more about aggressive defense and it’s more about pushing the ball on offense and shooting layups,” Meadors said.
With the strength of a healthy roster, the Dream will look to build on the momentum of Tuesday’s win in their game against Phoenix on Friday night.
“I think the Atlanta Dream showed that they are getting back to what they do — and that’s scrappy defense, pushing the ball on offense, and getting some easy baskets,” Meadors said.
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