For 38 minutes Sunday, the Dream seemed confident, focused and poised against a San Antonio squad that won the teams’ first matchup earlier this month.
But Atlanta’s poor shot selection in the last two minutes cost the Dream (2-7) what would have been their third win of the season. The Shooting Stars made sure to capitalize on Atlanta’s missed opportunities in the waning minutes, securing a 92-86 win and a regular season sweep of the Dream.
“We definitely just can’t come down and shoot the ball, and that’s exactly what we did,” Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. “Players that are veterans know [we can’t do] that.”
The Dream's poor decision making late in the game squandered a good defensive outing. San Antonio, the WNBA's best team, entered Sunday’s game leading the league in field-goal percentage, but Atlanta was able to hold the Shooting Stars’ offense to 39 percent shooting. The Dream defense forced 10 San Antonio turnovers.
Recently, the Dream shifted their focus to defense in an effort to slow scoring surges made by their opponents.
“We’re thinking on the defensive end,” Meadors said. “We’ve just let people score too many points, and the points that they’ve scored have been too easy.”
San Antonio (6-1) was led by Jia Perkins and Danielle Adams, who combined for 44 points and 12 rebounds.
“You look at what [Adams] did with Texas A&M, she’s just a great scorer,” Meadors said. “She’s a pure shooter, no matter where she is, and it’s really difficult if she puts the ball on the floor to guard her.”
A bright spot for the Dream was the play of Coco Miller off the bench, who posted a season-high 19 points in the loss. The former Georgia Lady Bulldog was 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line and shot 50 percent from the field.
“I think we just did a good job of pushing the ball down the floor and getting quick, open looks,” Miller said. “I think we’re the best when we get out in the open floor and just run, and that’s what we did today.”
After a few tough outings for the guard, Meadors was glad to see Miller return to form on both the offensive and defensive end.
“[Coco’s] been in a situation where she’s had open looks over the last three or four games and kind of lost her confidence a little bit,” Meadors said. “Today she came out and she was very determined and focused on what she was doing.”
Angel McCoughtry added 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Courtney Paris grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds for the Dream.
The Dream remain without the presence of Sancho Lyttle for one more game. With her impending return on July 9, coach Meadors will have to make a few more adjustments to her 11-player roster.
Until then, the Dream will need to turn in a sustained effort like they did over the first three-and-a-half quarters of against San Antonio.
“We’re 1-1 when we have everybody on the court — that’s the San Antonio loss and the New York [road] win,” Meadors said. “Hopefully we can start turning some of these close games into wins.”
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