Allisha Gray scored a career-high 27 points as the visiting Atlanta Dream rallied for a 92-88 overtime victory over the Connecticut Sun on Thursday in Uncasville, Conn.
Gray shot 10 of 14 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Dream (4-5), who overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to knock off the Sun for the first time in the teams’ past eight meetings dating to 2019.
Cheyenne Parker added 19 points, Rhyne Howard finished with 19 points and six assists and rookie Haley Jones chipped in 10 points and nine assists for the Dream, who have won two straight.
Brionna Jones paced the Sun (8-3) with 28 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out. Alyssa Thomas had 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and DeWanna Bonner added 20 points for the Sun, who lost for just the second time in their past seven games.
Tied at 80 at the end of regulation, Gray’s layup gave the Dream a two-point lead before Parker’s layup made it a four-point game with 4:15 to go.
Jones’ driving layup extended the lead to 87-82 with three minutes left. The Sun closed to within 89-86 and had the ball in the final minute, but DiJonai Carrington missed a driving layup with 40 seconds left.
Gray secured the win with two free throws with 21 seconds left.
Trailing 71-70 with 5:07 left, Naz Hillmon’s layup gave the Dream a 72-71 advantage with 4:43 remaining. Jones followed with a jumper with two free throws to push it to 76-71 with 3:18 to go.
The Sun pulled to within 78-75 with 1:43 left on Carrington’s layup, although she failed to complete the three-point play. Thomas’ jumper made it a one-point game with 1:09 remaining.
After an Atlanta turnover, the Sun got the ball to Bonner, whose 3-pointer gave the Sun an 80-78 with 43.4 seconds left. Parker’s short baseline jumper with five-tenths of a second to play sent the game into overtime.
The Dream dominated the third quarter, opening on a 13-2 run to take a 53-52 lead on Gray’s technical free throw with 5:47 left. The Sun rallied to take a 62-61 advantage entering the final period.
Atlanta overcame the Sun’s eight-point lead after the first quarter to pull even at 32 on Nia Coffey’s jumper with 6:22 left in the second quarter. However, Connecticut closed on an 18-8 run to take a 50-40 halftime advantage.
–Field Level Media
