Allisha Gray scored a team-high 18 points on Friday as the Atlanta Dream staved off a furious rally from the Washington Mystics for a 92-91 win in College Park, Ga.
Washington trailed by 16 points in third quarter but was within three when Gray fouled Brittney Sykes on a 3-point attempt with 0.1 seconds left. However, Sykes missed the second of the three attempts, allowing the Dream to escape.
Brionna Jones added 14 points and Rhyne Howard followed with 13 for the Dream (9-4), who won their fourth game in five tries. Jordin Canada had 11 points, while Brittney Griner tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
Shakira Austin had a season-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (5-8), which dropped its eighth game in 11 tries. Sykes added 21 points and eight assists and Sonia Citron scored 17 in the loss.
The Mystics trimmed their deficit to seven with less than seven minutes left on Citron’s second triple of the game. Canada and Austin then traded layups before six straight Atlanta free throws extended the lead back to 13 with 5:29 remaining.
Washington then answered again — this time with a 10-0 run — to pull within three with two minutes left. After Jones split a pair of free throws, Austin tacked on to her stellar night with a three-point play at the 1:26 mark to cut Atlanta’s lead to 88-87.
Gray then knocked down a mid-range jumper and forced a turnover on the ensuing Washington possession. After being fouled by Sykes, Gray made both foul shots to push the lead back to five.
Emily Engstler made a layup and Austin rebounded Jones’ missed jumper, but Gray couldn’t make all three of her foul shots to level the game.
After leading by nine at halftime, the Dream built a 56-43 edge following Howard and Gray’s layups and Jones’ 3-pointer at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter. The gap then grew to 16 points twice.
Nia Coffey later helped Atlanta grab a 72-57 lead before Engstler’s free throw and Sykes’ layup cut the Dream’s edge to 12 entering the final quarter.
After taking a 24-22 lead into the second quarter, Atlanta’s advantage grew to 13 with less than a minute left in the first half as Howard and Griner’s layups began a 6-0 spurt to push the margin to 47-34. Sykes’ free throws and Austin’s layup pulled the Mystics’ halftime deficit to 47-38.
–Field Level Media
