Allisha Gray and Asia (AD) Durr each scored 12 points as the Atlanta Dream used a balanced scoring effort to capture a 78-65 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night.
Aari McDonald posted 11 points in a reserve role and Rhyne Howard added 10 points as the Dream (13-10) won for the eighth time in their last 10 games.
Howard drained two 3-pointers and now has 151 in her career. She reached that mark in 57 games, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to sink 150 threes.
Megan Gustafson scored 19 points off the bench and Brittney Griner had all 16 of her points in the first half as the Mercury (6-17) lost their second straight game. Sophie Cunningham had 11 points for Phoenix, which dropped to 1-11 in road games and couldn’t overcome 5-for-24 shooting on 3-pointers.
The Dream won despite recording 17 turnovers in the first meeting of the season between the teams.
Atlanta opened the second half on a 13-3 spurt to create a 58-36 lead. Howard had five straight points during that stretch, while the Mercury went more than six minutes without scoring.
Phoenix went almost 2 1/2 minutes without a field goal to begin the fourth quarter, pretty much negating any chance of a comeback. The Mercury ended up shooting 35.8 percent from the field for the game.
For the Dream, McDonald and Durr both shot 5-for-7 from the field.
Ten Atlanta players scored in the first half as the Dream carried a 45-33 lead into halftime. A 10-2 run in the second quarter helped stretch the margin, while a 19-7 advantage in bench scoring before the break also made a difference.
Griner took nearly half of her team’s 33 field-goal attempts in the first half. The Mercury were hurt by 1-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while Atlanta was 5-for-11 from deep in the opening half.
The Dream evened their record at home to 6-6.
–Field Level Media
