The Atlanta Dream couldn’t come back this time.

Atlanta fell behind Minnesota by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, cut its
gap to 10 in the fourth, but lost 96-81 on Wednesday at the Target Center. It was
Atlanta’s (4-2) biggest loss this season.

It was just the second time this season that Atlanta failed to complete a rally. The
Dream’s first successful comeback came against Minnesota in the season-opener
when it came from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win by one.
Atlanta reduced its deficit to 10 several times in the fourth on Wednesday. Its last
chance came with 3:19 left on a basket by Rhyne Howard which set the stage for
another rally. Minnesota responded with a 7-0 run.

“Every time we would try to make a comeback, all of a sudden we would have
another defensive breakdown based on great execution on their part,” Dream
Head Coach Karl Smesko said.

Atlanta was led by Allisha Gray, who scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Naz
Hillmon finished with 15, and Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard scored 10 each.
The Dream hit just 11 of 31 3-pointers.
Minnesota was led by Courtney Williams, who scored 25 points on 10-of-15
shooting, and Natasha Howard, who scored 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting. The
Lynx shot 59%.

Atlanta didn’t help itself this time. The Dream hit just 11 of 31 3-pointers and
Minnesota turned 18 Dream turnovers into 33 points.

“We’ve been losing too many possessions,” Smesko said. “We'll address it.
Hopefully, we'll see some improvement going forward with that.”

The Lynx used its ball screen to score 50 points, most in the free-throw lane.

“Their execution was outstanding but even when the other team has good
execution we have to get some stops,” Smesko said. “We had been doing a good
job defensively all season until this game is the one that's really given us the most
trouble.”

Atlanta’s penchant for starting slowly happened again. It fell behind by 14 points
in the first quarter before using a 12-3 run to start the second quarter and tie the
game at 26 on a 3-pointer by Sika Kone.

Minnesota built its lead back to nine before the Dream cut it to five at halftime.
The Dream wasn't able to get closer than four in the second half.

"We've talked about how we need to be better early," Hillmon said. "It does take a
lot out of you, because you're having to claw back, and you feel like you have to
make sure that every possession is perfect. We're definitely trying to get to that
point where we're the team that is putting teams away early and not having to
fight back for the win, so today that hurt us."