Rhyne Howard had 21 points and eight rebounds on Sunday afternoon to help the Atlanta Dream rally for an 82-80 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in College Park, Ga.
Allisha Gray added 18 points and Angel Reese posted a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double for Atlanta (4-1), which trailed by 12 with five minutes left. Jordin Canada had 11 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and three steals in the win.
Alyssa Thomas had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Phoenix (2-5), which dropped its fifth game in six tries. Kahleah Copper chipped in 20 points, while Jovana Nogic scored 11 and Kyara Linskens finished with 10.
After trailing by seven at halftime, Atlanta began the second half on a 10-4 spurt to slice its deficit to a point on Reese’s hook shot.
From there, the Dream made just one field goal across the final seven minutes of the third quarter and Phoenix took a 57-49 lead into the fourth.
Howard’s 3-pointer and Gray’s layup cut the Dream’s deficit to three, but Thomas’ mid-range jumper stamped a 7-0 run to extend the margin to 10 with 7:37 remaining.
After Te-Hina Paopao and Howard connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the margin to 70-64, Thomas made a layup and Reese picked up a technical foul for arguing. Copper made the technical free throw to push Phoenix’s lead to nine at the 3:44 mark.
Atlanta mounted another rally, though, as Isobel Borlase’s 3-pointer pulled the Dream within two. After a challenge overturned Reese’s shooting foul, Canada’s three-point play with 1:03 remaining gave the Dream their first lead since the 8:35 mark of the first quarter.
Noemie Brochant then missed a jumper and Howard hit a 3-pointer to extend Atlanta’s advantage to 79-75. Copper answered with a 3-pointer, before Reese made a foul shot but missed the second. Naz Hillmon pulled down the offensive rebound and Gray made both free throws to give the Dream an 82-78 advantage with 7.9 seconds left.
Reese fouled Copper on a 3-point attempt with 3.5 seconds left. Copper made the first two and Natasha Mack got the rebound on the purposefully missed third, but the Mercury were unable to get off a shot as time expired.
–Field Level Media
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