SB Nation Atlanta - Dream Vs. Fever: Atlanta Drops Season Opener 92-84 In Indianahttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2012-05-19T21:56:44-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/27956662012-05-19T21:56:44-04:002012-05-19T21:56:44-04:00Dream Vs. Fever Final Score: Atlanta Suffers Season Opening 92-84 Loss In Indiana
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<p>The Atlanta Dream didn't get off to the fast start that head coach Marynell Meadors was looking for. Atlanta fell behind early and the Indiana Fever made the lead stand up finishing with a 92-84 win. </p>
<p>Indiana jumped out to a 28-20 lead in the first quarter and then held the Dream to just 12 points in the second taking a 47-32 advantage into halftime. The Dream couldn't cut into the lead much in the third and then made a charge in the fourth but the Fever were able to keep them at arms length behind the play of Katie Douglas and Tamika Catchings.</p>
<p>Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 26 points and added seven rebounds and four steals. McCoughtry was 9 of 19 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line. Sancho Lyttle logged a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards while Lindsey Harding added 16 points and six assists. Atlanta was undone by 19 turnovers with five coming from McCoughtry. </p>
<p>Katie Douglas leads five Indiana players in double figures with 21 points. Tamika Catchings added 16 points while Jessica Davenport finished with 12. Briann January and Shavonte Zellous finished with 11 each. The Fever turned the ball over 16 times themselves but made up for it 12 of 21 attempts from three point range. Eight of the 10 Indiana players that appeared in the game hit a three point bucket. </p>
<p><i style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">For more on the Atlanta Dream check out <a style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #002c66; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.peachtreehoops.com/">Peachtree Hoops</a> and SB Nation's Women's Hoops blog <a style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #002c66; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.swishappeal.com/">Swish Appeal</a>.</i></p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2012/5/19/3031631/dream-vs-fever-final-score-atlanta-suffers-season-opening-92-84-lossKris Willis2012-05-19T08:00:42-04:002012-05-19T08:00:42-04:00Dream Vs. Fever: Atlanta Opens Regular Season Against Eastern Conference Foe
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<p>The Atlanta Dream begin their 2012 regular season on the road as they open up against the Indiana Fever. </p> <p>The Atlanta Dream will open their 2012 regular season schedule Saturday night when they travel to Indiana to take on the Fever. Atlanta defeated the Fever in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals 2-1 to advance to the Finals where they lost to the Minnesota Lynx. </p>
<p>Atlanta's core group returns led by All-Star Angel McCoughtry and Lindsey Harding. The Dream also return starters Sancho Lyttle, Armintie Price and Erika de Souza who won't join the team until after the Olympics. </p>
<p>While most of the starters return, Atlanta's bench will look much differently after the departures of Iziane Castro Marques, Shalee Lehning, Allison Bales and Coco Miller. Castro Marques is a free agent and hasn't signed with any WNBA team yet. Lehning and Bales both elected to retire. Miller was cut in the final days of training camp. In there place are Ketia Swanier, Cathrine Kraayeveld, Laurie Koehn and rookie Tiffany Hayes. </p>
<p>Atlanta still has plenty of offensive firepower but they want to concentrate on improving their team defense in 2012 <a href="http://www.wnba.com/games/20120519/ATLIND/gameinfo.html#nbaGIlive">according to head coach Marynell Meadors</a>. </p>
<p>"We're going to concentrate on improving defensively this year. It's been a great accomplishment, reaching two WNBA finals, but we want to take that next step and win it."</p>
<p>The Dream will be focused on slowing down 2011 MVP Tameka Catchings who is healed from the foot injury that she suffered during the playoffs last season against the Dream. The Fever also get back Briann January who missed all of last season with a torn ACL and sharpshooter Katie Douglas. </p>
<p><i>For more on the Atlanta Dream check out <a href="http://www.peachtreehoops.com">Peachtree Hoops</a> and SB Nation's Women's Hoops blog <a href="http://www.swishappeal.com">Swish Appeal</a>. </i></p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-hawks/2012/5/19/3030113/dream-vs-fever-atlanta-opens-regular-season-against-easternKris Willis