The Atlanta Dream is finally hitting its stride on offense.
By Katie Morrison
After an astounding 106-89 victory over the Mystics on the road on Wednesday, the Dream (11-9) carried their energy into Friday night’s matchup to defeat the Fever (2-19) 98-74 at McCamish Pavilion, claiming their third consecutive win.
While Atlanta has maintained a strong defensive performance throughout the 2018 season, their recent offensive chemistry translated into the team’s success on Friday. The Dream shot an exceptional 56.9 percent from the field compared to Indiana’s 39.7 percent and outrebounded the Fever 41-27. The team concluded the evening with seven players in double figures and a season high 45 points from the bench.
Tiffany Hayes led the Dream with 16 points, followed by Elizabeth Williams and Brittney Sykes both contributing 14 points, and Angel McCoughtry, Jessica Breland, Alex Bentley, and Damiris Dantas adding 10 points each.
“I think the biggest difference between a month ago and the last couple games is the ball movement and the player movement,” said Dream head coach Nicki Collen in Friday night’s post-game press conference. “When someone’s driving the baseline, we’ve got players moving. Elizabeth is driving to the rim and we’ve had drop passes and things like that. I think Angel has played really unselfishly, and as a team we’ve played unselfishly. I’m really, really proud of their effort.”
The Dream, now ranked seventh in the WNBA standings, will face the third-ranked Mystics again on Sunday, July 15, at 3 PM ET at McCamish Pavilion.