Erika DeSouza leads Atlanta Dream to an 87-81 victory over New York Liberty – WNBA Recap
With Atlanta Dream badly in need of a win, Erika DeSouza decided to step it up and led her team to an 87-81 win over New York Liberty on Thursday night at the Philips Arena. DeSouza recorded a double-double, tying a career high
with 27 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
The 29-year-old centre shot a phenomenal 11 for 16 from the field to snap Atlanta’s two-game losing streak. After the game she said, "Having lost the past few games, everybody was angry." "So we were focused and just did our best."
Lindsey Harding was also on fire, going 9-for-13 for 25 points. She added four rebounds and three assists as well.
Cappie Pondexter once again led New York with 24 points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals. The 28-year-old guard hit a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line and also nailed 4 of 7 three-pointers. Essence Carson came
off the bench with 12 points and three rebounds while centre Kia Vaughn ended the night with 11 points, shooting 5 for 9 from the floor. She also grabbed seven rebounds for Liberty, who saw their two-game winning streak snapped.
Plenette Pierson, who won the first ever Sixth Woman of the Year Award given in the WNBA, left the game early in the second quarter after a collision with Harding. However, Pierson returned to floor soon and ended with eight points
and seven rebounds.
Liberty were sharp from the very start and led by as many as 17-7 on the way to a 24-16 advantage after the first period. Forward Jessica Breland scored her only two points of the game with 06:22 to go in the second quarter to
stretch New York’s lead to 13 points, 34-21 - their biggest lead of the game.
Atlanta however then turned it on and reeled off to a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to four, 38-34, with 02:18 to go in the second period. However, Liberty went on a 6-2 run in the last two minutes to take a 44-37 advantage at halftime.
Nicole Powell hit two consecutive three-pointers early in the third quarter to give New York an 11-point lead, 50-39. Dream responded with six consecutive points to cut Liberty’s lead to five, 50-45. Pondexter then successfully
drove to the rim and Vaughn pinned a pair of free throw to put New York ahead by 56-45.
Atlanta responded ferociously. They went on a 17- 5 run, capped by a driving jump shot from Price to go ahead by 62-61 with 29 seconds to go in the third period. Spencer however hit a pair of free throw to make it 63-62 for New
York, heading into the fourth.
Atlanta carried their momentum in the fourth quarter and held a 70-67 lead but New York managed to knot the game at 72-72 early in the quarter. De Souza slipped 2 free throws at 05:11 mark to put Atlanta ahead by two points, 74-72
and the Dream never trailed again. They held the visitors to a 37.9 percent shooting from the field.
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