Atlanta loses 89-77 to Sun
by Zeke Palermo
COLLEGE PARK, Ga.– The Atlanta Dream finished a five-game homestand with a 89-77 loss to the Connecticut Sun Sunday evening.
The loss was the third in a row for the Dream and their fourth at home this season.
“It wasn’t the greatest,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said of her team’s time at home. “Our job is to get better, try to find opportunities to get better in areas that we need to continue to grow. Today, I thought we did [that].”
Cheyenne Parker was the highlight of the Dream offense, scoring 20 on 69% shooting. She led the team in scoring for the second time this season.
“CP has always been able to do this,” Wright said. “The most impressive thing is that she’s starting to do it with some consistency.”
Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard also helped shoulder the offense, but did so inefficiently. Gray scored 10 of her 18 on free throws, and Howard scored just two of her 10 3-point attempts.
“I’m just being aggressive,” Gray said. “It’s just finding little ways to keep the defender on my body and draw the foul.”
Gray’s 10 makes on 12 free throw attempts are both career-highs.
Connecticut had several scorers with double-digit points. Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Tyasha Harris, DiJonai Carrington, and DeWanna Bonner all scored at least 10.
“I think defensively, against what their sets were, that we did a pretty good job,” Wright said. “We had a few mishaps… to me, that’s a lack of focus.”
The Sun are now 6-1 with at least four 10-plus scorers, and 2-0 with five.
Harris’ 15 points and Carrington’s 12 were both season highs.
The Dream opened the game outsourcing the Sun 10-0, but did not hold onto that lead for long. After that run, Connecticut outscored its hosts 24-14 in the first quarter. It gained its first lead of the game off a steal-and-score buzzer beater from Olivia Neslon-Ododa to end the opening frame.
The Sun did not trail by more than one possession the rest of the game.
Long-time Dream player Tiffany Hayes made her regular season return to Atlanta after being traded to the Sun in February. In that deal, Atlanta received the sixth overall pick in the draft, which they used to select Haley Jones. Hayes got into foul trouble early and played only 11 minutes, a season low. She was drafted by the Dream in 2012.
Aari McDonald missed her second straight game for the Dream with a torn labrum.
Danielle Robinson missed her sixth straight game for the Dream after suffering a knee injury in the first game of the season. Robinson recently underwent a successful surgery and is expected back before the All-Star break.
Atlanta’s loss puts the Dream joint-bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 2-5 record. They will try to break their three-game losing streak when they visit the New York Liberty on June 13.
The Dream will get another shot at the Sun in Connecticut on June 15.
A win only strengthens the Sun’s hold on the top spot in the Eastern Conference at 8-2. Connecticut does not play until their game against the Dream on June 15.