Atlanta Dream 37 vs. Minnesota Lynx 33 – WNBA Finals Game-3 Halftime Analysis
Angel McCoughtry led all the scorers with 10 points as Atlanta Dream led Minnesota Lynx 37-33 at halftime in the game-3 of the 2011 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals on Friday, October 7, 2011.
Centre Erika de Souza added nine points while Sancho Lyttle posted eight points and dished out nine assists for Dream, who are trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five final series. Lynx were led by Candice Wiggins with nine points and
two assist off the bench; forward Seimone Augustus chipped in eight points while Rebekkah Brunson tallied seven points at halftime.
First Quarter
Atlanta entered their home court, Philips Arena, with a hope to bounce back from their two-game losing streak in the league finals. As has been a trend this series, they were again the better side to start with and carried a 4-0
lead in the second minute of the first quarter.
Brunson responded with a jumper to make it 4-2, but De Souza hit a turnaround jumper and McCoughtry scored a jumper to push Atlanta's lead to 8-2 inside one and a half minutes. Lynx closed the gap though and brought the scores
to 10-12 nearly midway through the frame. However, they were on a wrong end of a 7-0 stretch in the passage that followed, allowing Dream to take a 19-12 advantage with 3:52 remaining.
Augustus and Brunson combined on the next possession to make it 19-14 and after a scoreless 1:21, a Wiggins’ shot from downtown had the Lynx within 19-17. De Souza hit a free throw with five seconds to go, giving Dream a 20-17
lead. A missed three by Moore at the buzzer, ensured the scores remained the same after the first ten minutes.
Second Quarter
Minnesota opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run, converting their opening period’s deficit into a 27-23 lead early. McCoughtry however turned it on at that point and scored five straight points to put Atlanta ahead by one with
05:27 to go in the first half.
In a closely fought battle that followed, Augustus hit a hook shot with 04:32 left to give the Lynx a point lead at 31-30. Atlanta responded swiftly and punctuated six consecutive points to make it 36-31, before Augustus scored
a lay-up and trimmed Dream’s lead to three, 36-33.
De Souza then closed the quarter with a free throw, allowing Dream to carry a 37-33 lead into the locker room.
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