Rhyne Howard scored 26 points and went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line to help the Atlanta Dream rally for a 92-77 victory over the visiting Washington Mystics in the opening game of a best-of-three first-round series on Sunday night.
Allisha Gray added 22 points, and Angel Reese posted a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double for the fourth-seeded Dream, who trailed by 11 points in the second quarter. DeWanna Bonner scored 13 points off the bench and Jordin Canada had 10 points and 11 assists for Atlanta, which forced 22 Washington turnovers.
Sonia Citron led the No. 5-seeded Mystics with 25 points, followed by Kiki Iriafen’s 15 points and 14 rebounds. Shakira Austin had 12 points and 16 boards for Washington, which will host Atlanta in the second game on Wednesday.
After trailing by five at halftime, Atlanta opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run and grabbed its first lead since the game’s opening minute. The Dream used another 7-0 spurt to build a 52-45 lead on a pair of Howard free throws with 4:44 remaining in the third.
Bonner and Gray had consecutive layups before Reese completed a three-point play to give the Dream a 61-48 lead. Atlanta led 65-53 entering the fourth.
The margin ballooned to 70-53 on Howard’s triple with 8:56 left. Howard connected on a midrange jumper to make it 81-65, but Washington answered with nine straight points to pull within seven with 3:26 remaining.
Atlanta outscored the visitors 11-3 the rest of the way to secure the pivotal series-opening win.
Atlanta scored first on Howard’s 3-pointer just 22 seconds into the game, giving the Dream their first — and last — lead of the first half.
Washington jumped out to a 14-5 lead on consecutive triples from Citron and Michaela Onyenwere.
Howard closed the first quarter with a midrange jumper to cut Atlanta’s deficit to five.
Washington scored the first six points of the second quarter to open up a 32-21 edge. Down 36-28, Atlanta reserve Madina Okot’s layup began a 6-0 Dream spurt to close the gap to two with 3:37 left in the first half.
After Betnijah Laney-Hamilton drilled a 3-pointer and Georgia Amoore made a layup to extend Washington’s lead to seven, Canada finished the first half with a basket to trim the Dream’s halftime deficit to 41-36.
–Field Level Media
