Atlanta Dream top Indiana Fever 84-74; Record their second consecutive victory – WNBA Recap
On Tuesday night, the defending Eastern Conference champion Atlanta Dream picked up a key victory at Philips Arena, routing the Indiana Fever 84-74 for their second consecutive victory.
With this victory, Atlanta knocked Fever off the top position in the league. However, Dream themselves are still four games behind Indiana at fifth in the East.
Lindsey Harding tallied a team-high 19 points, shooting 7 for 13 from the field, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists in the victory.
Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors praised the brilliant performance of Harding and said, "Lindsey played really awesome," "She controlled the pace of the game. We had a lot of fast breaks, and she was leading in a lot of those situations.
And she distributed the ball really well to her teammates."
Erika de Souza recorded a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds and 15 points. The 29-year-old also blocked five shots and had two steals on the night. All-Star forward Angel McCoughtry also scored 15 points and stole the
ball five times while Iziane Castro Marques came off the bench with 10 points for Atlanta, who have won three of their previous five games.
Tamika Catchings scooped a game best 22 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dealt out six assists in the third consecutive defeat for Fever. Catchings shot 8 for 19 from the field and 6 for 7 from free throw line. Erin Phillips
totalled 21 points, three rebounds and three assists while Jessica Davenport had 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Indiana.
Dream shot 47.6 percent from the floor and limited the visiting team to just 40.0 percent. In addition to that, Atlanta beat Fever on fast break points, outscoring them 24-10.
Atlanta played the game in the absence of two of their main players. Forward Sancho Lyttle was out with a sore back and Coco Miller missed the game with a right ankle injury. Dream entered the court with just nine players in uniform
and got off to a good start, taking a 21-18 lead at the end of the first period.
Atlanta limited Fever to just 18 points in the second quarter and stretched their lead to eight-point, 44-36, at halftime.
Indiana fought back early in the third quarter though and trimmed the deficit to three, 50-47. However, Dream bounced back and raced to a 66-56 advantage, going into the last quarter.
Trailing by ten points at the end of three, Fever did not get any closer than nine points in the entire frame and Atlanta walked away with fourth home victory of this season.
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