Rhyne Howard scored a season-high 36 points on eight made 3-pointers to help lead the Atlanta Dream to a 91-75 victory over the visiting Connecticut Sun on Tuesday in College Park, Ga.
Allisha Gray added 26 points, while Angel Reese had 12 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for Atlanta (6-2), which improved on the best record in the Eastern Conference. Jordin Canada tallied 12 points and 10 assists for the Dream, who won their fourth game in five tries.
Aneesah Morrow led the Sun (2-9) with 20 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Leila Lacan and Saniya Rivers’ 11 points apiece. Olivia Nelson-Ododa chipped in 10 points for Connecticut, which owns the league’s worst record.
The Sun trailed by a point at halftime before Rivers’ layup stamped a 6-0 run to give the visitors a 55-50 lead two minutes into the third quarter.
Atlanta’s next lead didn’t come until Reese scored five straight points to put the Dream ahead 66-65 with 29.3 seconds remaining in the third. Canada followed with a layup with 1.8 seconds on the clock to help Atlanta take a three-point edge into the final quarter.
From there, neither team scored in the fourth until Connecticut’s Brittney Griner’s flagrant foul resulted in Reese splitting a pair of free throws at the 7:43 mark.
Atlanta’s run continued, as Gray’s back-to-back baskets and Reese’s layup extended the lead to 75-65. Morrow’s layup at the 4:39 mark accounted for Connecticut’s first points of the fourth quarter.
Gray’s layup and Howard’s three-point play gave the Dream an 88-74 lead with 1:44 left, sealing the victory.
Howard’s third 3-pointer of the first quarter gave the Dream a 16-13 edge at the 3:43 mark. Connecticut finished the opening quarter on a 7-1 run, taking a 25-24 lead into the second.
Gray connected on Atlanta’s eighth 3-pointer of the first half, giving the Dream a six-point advantage with 3:07 remaining. Howard’s triple gave Atlanta a 50-44 lead with 1:47 left, but the Sun finished the first half with Morrow’s layup and Rivers’ 3-pointer, slicing Connecticut’s halftime-deficit to 50-49.
Atlanta knocked down 14-of-37 (37.8%) 3-point field goals, while Connecticut countered with only four in 17 attempts (23.5%).
The Dream also outscored the Sun, 15-3, in second chance points, as the visitors managed only three offensive rebounds.
–Field Level Media
