Rhyne Howard had 22 points and made six 3-pointers on Monday to help the Atlanta Dream post a 107-95 victory over the Toronto Tempo in College Park, Ga.
Howard also had seven assists, while Angel Reese added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Dream (20-12), who won their seventh game in nine tries and pulled into a first-place tie with the Indiana Fever atop the Eastern Conference. Jordin Canada finished with 20 points and nine assists, Allisha Gray and Brionna Jones scored 15 points apiece and Naz Hillmon had 11 for Atlanta, which led by as many as 25.
Marina Mabrey led Toronto (10-22) with 36 points, followed by Kiki Rice’s 18 and Isabelle Harrison’s 13. Nyara Sabally collected 12 points and 12 rebounds and reserve Aneesah Morrow scored 11 for the Tempo, who dropped their ninth straight game.
Holding a 15-point halftime lead, the Dream began the third quarter on a 12-2 run — including 3-pointers from Reese, Canada and Hillmon — to take a commanding 66-41 edge.
Mabrey connected on two triples to help the Tempo cut their deficit to 13 after three quarters. Toronto outscored the Dream 20-8 over the final five-plus minutes of the third.
The run continued into the final quarter, as Mabrey’s deep 3-pointer sliced Atlanta’s lead to 82-74 with 8:54 remaining. The eight-point difference was as close as Toronto would get as Howard’s 3-pointer and Reese’s layup pushed the lead back to 16 at the 5:56 mark, forcing a Tempo timeout.
Jones’ layup with 1:07 left put the finishing touches on the Dream’s fourth victory in as many tries against Toronto, pushing the gap to 105-93.
Howard drilled a pair of early 3-pointers to give the Dream a 24-22 lead entering the second quarter.
Atlanta grabbed its first double-digit lead at the 4:20 mark of the second, as Reese’s layup gave the Dream a 45-34 advantage.
After Sabally’s triple pulled the Tempo within 10 at 48-38, Reese scored four of the Dream’s next six to push the margin to 16. Atlanta, led by Gray’s 13 first-half points, held a 54-39 halftime lead. Mabrey’s 13 points before the break paced Toronto.
–Field Level Media
