After winning a come-from-behind thriller over the Seattle Storm on Friday, Atlanta had a chance to string together two wins on Sunday for the first time in over two months.
The Dream – led by Tina Charles’ double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds (both game highs) – did exactly that with an 82-70 victory over the Connecticut Sun at Gateway Center Arena.
Charles has been red hot since hitting the game-winning shot with time running down on Friday. She was 9 of 15 from the field on Sunday and made five of her first six shots.
“I just think this is who I am, and this is who I’ve been my entire career,” said Charles, a 12-year WNBA veteran. “I don’t think I’m doing anything different. I don’t think about my age. I’m just very competitive. I really love this game. I love to hoop. We just need these wins. [The second half] is a new season for us. We’re trying to collect as many [wins] as we can. Regardless of what my stat line was, I’m just trying to win.”
Atlanta (9-17) is 2-0 since returning from a month-long break for the Olympics. The Dream entered the Olympic break on an eight-game losing streak.
“It was just another gutsy win,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “We’re excited to be back home and playing in front of this crowd. [The team] came out defensively and executed the game plan very well.”
Jordin Canada, who played in just her sixth game of the season after she was sidelined for most of the first half with a hand injury, had her best game of the year. Canada dropped 19 points with six assists, six steals and four rebounds.
“I just try to be aggressive as much as possible and more than half the time I always end up on the floor,” Canada said. “That’s just how I play. That’s just who I’ve always been. I try to clean it up a little bit and try to stay on my feet.”
It was the first time Canada scored 18 or more points in a game since she scored 20 on Aug. 19, 2023. Wright explained why Canada was wearing a crown in Sunday’s postgame news conference.
“She kept us super-poised out there,” Wright said. “[She] attacked and put pressure on the rim constantly. They constantly had pressure. [She has the] ability to find her teammates [and] keep us calm and confident. She’s a great leader out there.”
The Dream took an early 5-0 lead and held onto it until early in the fourth quarter when Connecticut (19-7) went on a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game – a 61-59 advantage with 7:57 to play in regulation.
After Wright took a timeout, the Dream came out and responded with a 23-9 run over the final eight minutes of the game.
“It helps when you have a point guard of [Canada’s] caliber keeping your team calm,” Wright said. “We had a timeout, Tina came to the bench. [Connecticut] had taken the lead and [Charles] said, ‘We’re fine, we’re fine.’ It’s their ability to come together during those moments and stay composed and believe that they’re fine.”
After scoring 30 points on Friday, Rhyne Howard was quieter on Sunday as she was 3 of 11 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line for 13 points. Perhaps her most important points of the game came in the fourth quarter her baseline 3-pointer that gave Atlanta a 76-70 lead with a minute to play put the game essentially out of reach for Connecticut.
Sunday’s matchup was the fourth of the season between the Sun and Dream, with the season series ending in a split. In the three games against the Dream prior to Sunday, DeWanna Bonner averaged 19 points per game, and 17.2 points per game overall. Atlanta held her to nine points on Sunday.
It wasn’t all good news for the Dream. Forward Chyenne Parker-Tyus left the game with a lower leg injury at the 4:47 mark in the first quarter. She did not return and no update was given postgame.
Parker-Tyus had to be helped off the court and was wheeled to the locker room.
Atlanta awaits Wednesday’s home matchup against the Phoenix Mercury.
“They’ll take a day off [Monday] for sure,” Wright said. “People logged high minutes in the last two games. We’ll take a day off and get their bodies ready and then we’ll prepare like we normally prepare for any other team that’s [going to]. We’ll focus on ourselves and the things that we need to clean up and then obviously focus on the problems Phoenix presents.”
