The Dream return home to host the New York Liberty in a rematch on Friday
By: Dorothy Gentry
Prior to Tuesday night the Atlanta Dream won three straight games on the road.
That streak was broken by the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night at College Park Center in Arlington where the Wings defeated the Dream 85-73.
It was only the Dream’s second road loss of the season – both to the Wings. The Wings defeated the Dream 85-78 in the season opener for each club.
“Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t,” said head coach Tanisha Wright after the game. “Long road trip for us, but no excuses, give a lot of credit to Dallas. They came out ready, prepared, and defensively they did a good job on us.”
Defensively, the Wings held the Dream, who came in as the second-highest scoring team in the WNBA to 73 points which was nearly 13 points less than their average.
Cheyenne Parker had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist in the loss. Rhyne Howard who was held scoreless in the first quarter – also had 15 points along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Allisha Gray – playing her previous team for the second time this season – was held to only 9 points after scoring 25 in the win against the Fever on Sunday. She also had 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Natasha Howard led the Wings scoring with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steals.
Arike Ogunbowale, who had a career-high 41 points in the Wings loss to the Storm on Saturday, finished with 21 points before being ejected late in the fourth quarter after a second technical. There were a total of 10 technical fouls in the game.
The Dream lost the first three quarters: 15-20, 17-23 and 18-38 before their bench players went on a 12-4 run – sparked by rookie Taylor Mikesell – midway through the fourth quarter and started chipping at the Dallas lead. Mikesell scored seven points in four minutes to get the Dream within 80-67 with 4:07 left.The Dream
won the fourth quarter 23-14, but ultimately Dallas pulled away after making five of its next six free throws.
“Our bench did a good job of not looking at the scoreboard, of continuing to compete and play,” said Wright. “We feel like we have great players and athletes on this team and that’s the type of attitude that they will bring each and every night, so I am proud of the way that the bench came in and continued to compete for sure.”
At the end of a 3-1 road trip, Wright had this to say about the Dream: “I’ve been saying it, this team has tons of heart. There’s no quit in this team. They show up everyday. They work their behinds off and we go out there and compete at a high level. We have a team full of competitors.”
With the loss, Atlanta falls to 5-6 on the season. They return home to host the New York Liberty in a rematch on Friday. Dallas (6-6) kick-off a three-game road trip starting with the L.A. Sparks also on Friday night.