The Atlanta Dream will open up the second half of the WNBA season Friday night at Chicago and will have its full complement of players for the first time this season. Center Erika De Souza missed the first part of the season due to her Olympic commitments with Brazil.
De Souza was a key part of the Dream last season averaging 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She helped lead Brazil to a fifth place finish in Group B of the Olympics while averaging 16 points a game. More importantly for Atlanta her presence enables Marynell Meadors to slide Sancho Lyttle to the power forward position. The Lyttle and de Souza combination is a tough matchup for most of the teams in the WNBA.
"I'm really excited to come back," said de Souza. "It was tough in Brazil, we were working so hard. I'm sure we are going to work hard here too and we are going to get the results. I didn't come back here to just be the conference champion; I came here to be the champion of the WNBA."
Atlanta went 9-10 before the break without de Souza but has made second half pushes their calling card which has resulted in back-to-back appearances in the WNBA Finals.
For more on the Atlanta Dream be sure to check out Peachtree Hoops and SB Nation Atlanta. For more WNBA news and notes head over to Swish Appeal.