Nicole Powell leads New York Liberty down Atlanta Dream 91-69 – WNBA Recap
On Wednesday night, Nicole Powell scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds as New York Liberty pulverized Atlanta Dream 91-69 at Prudential Center enroute their fourth consecutive victory.
The 29-year-old forward shot 7 of 8 shots from the field including a perfect 5 for 5 from the three-point range. Powell was not the only one, who pounded Dream on the night. Five other Liberty players reached double figures.
Kia Vaughn had 14 points and four rebounds while Leilani Mitchell ended with 12 points and five assists for New York, who have won six of their previous seven games. Plenette Pierson scored 11 points while Cappie Pondexter and
Quanitra Hollingsworth contributed 10 points and six rebounds each.
Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with 17 points, three rebounds and two steals. However, she also committed a game-high six turnovers. Coco Miller punctuated 15 points and Armintie Price added 12 points in the second straight defeat
for Atlanta.
The Liberty, who are second in the Eastern Conference, shot 45.7 percent (32 for 70) from the field, 60.0 percent (9 for 15) from 3-point range and 81.8 percent (18 for 22) from free throw line. Dream, on the other hand, just managed
40.6 percent (28 for 69) from the floor, 0.0 percent beyond the arc (0 for 7) and 65.0 percent (13 for 20) from the line.
New York, playing at home, got off to a fast start and raced to a 20-9 lead on their way to a 25-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Trailing by 12 points after one, Atlanta responded aggressively, early in the second quarter and cut the margin to six, 23-29. However, Liberty closed the first half on a 25-14 run and extended their lead to 54-37 at halftime.
New York increased their lead to 21 points, 64-43, with 05:42 to go in the third quarter before Atlanta pulled it down to 19 points, 69-50. Liberty went on an 8-3 in the last two and half minutes of the third, including 3 of 3
free throws by Hollingsworth, to take a 77-53 lead into the fourth.
Dream did not get any closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter and New York walked away with their eighth victory of this season.
Dream coach Marynell Meadors, praised Liberty's play and also acknowledged that her team has to work hard in the upcoming games , “I thought the Liberty came out and shot the ball extremely well and I think it kind of put us back
on our heels a little bit," "I hope we can get back on the winning track. We struggled, we did not play well at all today, and we did not defend well. Those are the things we have to have. ... We have to come out with more intensity and more effort."
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