The Atlanta Dream close out the first half of the WNBA season with a mid-day match-up against the Washington Mystics. The Dream are coming off of a 84-74 victory over the Indiana Fever yesterday and today's 11:30 a.m. tip off will be a quick turnaround for the club.
After struggling for the early portion of the season, Atlanta has put together two solid efforts in their last two wins. A win over Washington today would give the team some confidence heading into the break with a three game winning streak.
Washington won the earlier meeting between the two clubs 98-90 in overtime. In that game, Crystal Langhorne and Nicky Anosike had big games with 30 and 29 points respectively. During its slow start to the season, Atlanta's defensive game wasn't up to par but seems to have come around in their last two victories. In their last two wins, Atlanta is only giving up 71 points per game which is a big improvement.
Lindsey Harding scored 19 points in yesterday's win over Indiana and hopes to carry that success over against her former club today. In the previous meeting against Washington, Harding finished with 11 points and four assists. Angel McCoughtry played just 19 minutes against Indiana because of foul trouble but still finished with 15 points.
Washington comes into today's game 3-10 and dead last in the Eastern Conference. They are just 2-8 in their last ten games but are feeling pretty good after scoring an 89-85 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Sparks their last time out. In that game, Washington completed the largest second-half comeback in WNBA history erasing a 22 point halftime deficit. Atlanta knows first hand how explosive the Mystics can be offensively if they find a rhythm.
Atlanta only dressed nine players against Indiana with both Sancho Lyttle and Coco Miller missing the game. Lyttle has been sidelined with a sore back while Miller is out of action with an ankle injury. Both players are considered as day to day.
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