Betnijah Laney and Courtney Williams each tallied more than 30 points each, but their stellar offensive performances weren’t enough to push the Atlanta Dream (2-10) over the Washington Mystics (4-7) in a 98-91 decision on Wednesday night. Laney exploded for a season-high 35 points with six assists and five rebounds, while Williams found her groove and scored 30 points, adding eight rebounds and seven assists. 

Atlanta had no trouble scoring and had a very positive offensive effort in the first half, shooting 56.7 percent from the field. However, the 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game proved to be game-changing and helped elevate the Mystics to a 45-39 lead at halftime. 

The third quarter favored Washington heavily as they took a 13-point advantage halfway through. Laney and Williams were the bright spots for Atlanta on the offensive and defensive end and helped keep the game within arms reach. 

The Dream started making up for the large deficit in the final quarter as the they started closing in on the Mystics with just minutes remaining. With back-to-back layups by Laney and pivotal turnovers committed by Washington, Atlanta climbed its way back into the game but still trailed 90-86 with 1:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Following a timeout called by the Mystics, Myisha Hines-Allen was open in the low post and made a layup with 45 seconds left to bump Washington’s lead to six. The Dream tried to foul to get the ball back, but the last six free throws went in for the Mystics and ultimately sealed the game. 

“Obviously the difference during the game early was turnovers,” said head coach Nicki Collen. “We started taking care of the ball in the second half. It’s just defensive pride, it’s that simple. Our team defense isn’t there. We didn’t do a great job keeping them in front of us and our protection wasn’t great after that.”

While the Dream’s lack of energy on the defensive end was apparent, they lit up the stat sheet from an offensive perspective. The team shot a season-high 55.1 percent from the field, led by Laney, who shot 14-of-24 from the field and Courtney Williams, who only missed seven of her 22 shots. 

Since Williams’ return to the team, her game and her productivity have been affected by offensive struggles. Against the Mystics, “struggling” isn’t even close to the right word used to describe her 30-point performance.

“It might be her best offensive game of her career,” said Collen of Courtney Williams’ performance. “You saw why Courtney was a player we coveted, traded for and were really excited about. She had her bounce back. I thought Stella [Johnson] lit her up there at the start of the third quarter but I think ultimately that kind of charged her up and I thought she defended a whole lot harder. I thought you saw a glimpse of what Courtney Williams can do.”

The Dream returns to the court Friday, August 21st to face the Los Angeles Sparks at 7:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Southeast and  Twitter.