Fighting Peaches: Atlanta Dream Week in Review (6/23/15)

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Atlanta 74, Chicago 73

Behind a game-winning shot at the buzzer by Angel McCoughtry, the Atlanta Dream snapped its two-game losing streak with a 74-73 home win over the defending Eastern Conference champions the Chicago Sky at Philips Arena on Friday night.

McCoughtry scored a team-high 18 points for the Dream while Erika de Souza had 13 points along with a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Ronneka Hodges (12 points) and Cierra Burdick (11 points) also scored in double-figures for the Dream.

Elena Delle Donne scored a game-high 26 points for the Sky and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. Courtney Vandersloot had 18 points for Chicago while Cappie Poindexter scored 13.

-Atlanta jumped out to a 10-4 lead, holding Chicago to 1-9 shooting for 11 percent.

-After the first quarter, the Dream led 21-13. Atlanta shot 47 percent from the field while holding Chicago to 25 percent. The Sky also had nine turnovers. Delle Donne had four points for Chicago while McCoughtry scored nine.

-Atlanta held a 37-36 lead at halftime. The Dream shot 40 percent from the field, led by 10 points each from McCoughtry and Rodges. Atlanta made only one out of six three-pointer attempts but hit on eight of 12 free-throw attempts.

-Chicago shot 26.7 percent in the first half with Delle Donne scoring a game-high 12 points. Vandersloot had 10 points. The Sky struggled from the field but hit all 17 free-throw attempts.

New York 73, Atlanta 64

Atlanta followed up the Chicago game with a 73-64 home defeat to the New York Liberty on Sunday afternoon.

Angel McCounghtry had a team-high 17 points for the Dream while Roneeka Hodges (12 points) and Sancho Lyttle (11 points) also scored in double figures. Atlanta shot a season-low 29.7 percent from the field.

New York got a game-high 18 points off the bench from Brittany Boyd while stater Sugar Rodgers had 17. Tina Charles notched a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Liberty outscored the Dream for points in the paint 36-14.

-Atlanta trailed by the score of 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Dream struggled from the field, shooting only 23.5 percent in the first quarter while the Liberty shot 47.4 percent.

-New York took a 40-28 lead into the locker room behind a game-high 10 points from Carolyn Swords off the bench. The Liberty shot 48.5 percent from the field in the first half.

-The Dream shot 25 percnt from the field in the first half and missed all seven three-point field goal attempts. McCoughtry scored a team-high nine points.

-There were five technical fouls called in the first half including two on New York’s Tanisha Wright who was ejected from the contest.

-New York outscored Atlanta 28-8 for points in the paint in the first half.

-Atlanta finished the third quarter on a 9-2 run and trailed New York 55-41 heading into the fourth quarter.