Allisha Gray had 21 points as the Atlanta Dream added to their recent roll, topping the visiting Phoenix Mercury 72-63 on Wednesday night in College Park, Ga.
Rhyne Howard provided 19 points, connecting on four 3-pointers, and Tina Charles racked up 12 points and 17 rebounds.
The Dream (10-17), who have gone 3-0 since the Olympic break, used a sizzling start and a big burst early in the fourth quarter to withstand the Mercury’s comeback bids.
Mercury guard Kahleah Copper poured in 22 points, but went scoreless for a long stretch of the second half.
Brittney Griner added 14 points, but fellow Olympian Diana Taurasi went 1-for-6 from the floor and didn’t score until hitting a late 3-pointer for Phoenix (15-14), which fell to 2-2 since the layoff.
Atlanta turned in a crisp game, committing only nine turnovers. The Dream made nine 3-pointers.
Phoenix scored 21 points in the first and fourth quarters combined, so it was unable to make up for that despite good stretches in the middle of the game.
Copper had 19 of the Mercury’s first 35 points and that allowed the team to catch up from a sizable early deficit.
The score was 48-48 after three quarters. Maya Caldwell recorded six points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter as part of a 9-2 spurt that gave the Dream control of the game.
They kept going and stretched the margin to 65-50 before the midway mark of the final quarter. The Mercury went more than 3 1/2 minutes without scoring as Atlanta pulled away.
The Mercury shot 6-for-19 on 3-pointers and couldn’t match the Dream’s rebounding. Atlanta held a 47-33 edge on the boards.
The Dream received only eight points from reserves.
Early in the game, the Dream broke out to an 18-4 lead, with Howard notching six points and Charles posting the final two baskets of that game-opening stretch.
The teams will meet in a rematch Friday night on the same court.
–Field Level Media