Dream eke past Liberty, Sun dominate Mystics on glass

New York Liberty guard Betnijah had a clean look at a layup to tie the game with 43.2 seconds remaining and missed. The Atlanta Dream made her pay with great defense the rest of the way, forcing her into a contested miss at 26.9 and an awkward put-back attempt at 25.7 and then forcing her teammate Sami Whitcomb into a slightly rushed miss from beyond the arc with 8.7 left.

A couple free throws in the final minute allowed Atlanta to win 73-69 on Tuesday night at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga.

Courtney Williams (four assists) led the Dream with 18 points, including the final go-ahead basket on a floater with 58.2 seconds to go. That capped a 6-0 run that also featured two Chennedy Carter free throws and a Monique Billings layup.

Crystal Bradford provided the great D on Laney late and also had 14 points and seven rebounds. Carter finished with 11 points and four helpers while Cheyenne Parker also netted 11 points. Billings chipped in with seven points and seven boards.

Laney notched 16 points and seven assists in defeat.

Atlanta forced 15 turnovers and committed just eight.

The Dream (6-9) drew within a game of the Liberty (8-9) with the win and within a half a game of getting out of 11th place.

Other action

Connecticut Sun (11-5) over Washington Mystics (7-9), 90-71

Jonquel Jones (23 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three steals) was fantastic in her return from EuroBasket as the Sun moved within a game of first place and a half a game of second place.

Connecticut blew away Washington on the glass 52-13 overall and 17-1 on offensive boards.

Jasmine Thomas was an impressive 7-of-9 from distance with 21 points while Brionna Jones contributed 14 points and nine boards to the winning cause. Natisha Hiedeman notched her sixth double-digit scoring performance of the season and first since June 17 with 15 points and Kaila Charles was good for 10 points and eight boards. DeWanna Bonner was held to just two points but grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven helpers.

Tina Charles (four assists) maintained what would be the highest scoring average in WNBA history with 26 points in defeat. She moved up a tenth of a point to 25.5 points per game on the season, 0.2 ahead of Diana Taurasi’s record 25.3 in 2006. Ariel Atkins added 19 points and five helpers for the Mystics.

Connecticut won the first by three, the second by 13 and the third by six before losing the fourth by three.