Angel McCoughtry leads as Atlanta Dream overcome Connecticut Sun 94-88 in overtime – WNBA Recap
On Friday night, against the Connecticut Sun, Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry recorded a monstrous night with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, as Atlanta earned their third straight win by defeating Connecticut Sun,
94-88, in overtime at Philips Arena. It was the second consecutive defeat for the Sun, who are now second in the Eastern Conference with a 16-10 record.
McCoughtry blocked a crucial shot in the clutch to force the overtime and then pinned two consecutive jumpers in O.T. as Dream squeaked past. The 24-year-old forward also stole the ball three times and ended with a 9 for 22 shooting
from the field and 8 for 12 from free throw line.
Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors praised the brilliant performance of McCoughtry and said, “She is a winner,'' She finds a way to score and she finds a way to defend. That block she made at the end of the game was huge.''
Three other Dream players also reached double figures on the night. Lindsey Harding added 21 points, five assists and two steals for Atlanta. Harding went 10 for 14 from the floor. Sancho Lyttle had 20 points, five rebounds, three
assists, two steals and a block in the victory. Erika de Souza recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Dream, who have won for the fourth time in their previous five games. De Souza also blocked four important shots.
Asjha Jones led Connecticut with 21 points and nine rebounds. However, Jones’ shooting from the field was not impressive as she finished with 9 for 24. Tina Charles registered her third consecutive double-double with 15 points
and 11 rebounds in the loss while Tan White and Kara Lawson came off the bench with 14 and 10 points respectively. Kelsey Griffin grabbed 11 rebounds for Sun, who have lost three of their previous five games.
Atlanta shot 43.0 percent from the field and 73.1 percent from free throw line and limited the visiting team to just 40.2 percent from the floor and 68.8 percent from the line. Connecticut committed 21 turnovers as compared to
just 10 by Atlanta.
Charles punctuated 15 points in the first half as Connecticut maintained a 50-41 lead at halftime. Atlanta however outscored the Sun 28-18 in the third quarter and converted their deficit into one-point lead, 69-68.
Connecticut made a comeback in the fourth quarter and held a 78-75 lead with 02:54 to go in the last period. Lyttle however salvaged a tie as she nailed a three-pointer with 12 ticks to go. Connecticut’s Allison Hightower worked
for the final shot from downtown in the closing second but McCoughtry blocked the shot successfully, forcing the game into overtime.
Dream opened the O.T. on a 6-2 run and carried an 84-80 lead, before Jones answered with three consecutive points to cut the margin to just one. McCoughtry then hit two straight jumpers to make it 88-83 and Atlanta did not trail
for rest of the period.
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