COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Rhyne Howard had 24 points, including six 3-pointers, and a career-high six blocks to help the Atlanta Dream secure a playoff spot with a 100-78 victory over the Dallas Wings on Friday night.
Atlanta, which won the season series with Dallas 3-1, made the playoffs for the 11th time in franchise history. The Dream’s last playoff victory came in 2018.
Allisha Gray added 19 points, Brionna Jones had 16 points, Te-Hina Paopao 14 and Brittney Griner scored 11 off the bench for Atlanta (25-14). The Dream had 32 assists on their 38 made field goals.
Maddy Siegrist led Dallas (9-31) with 23 points and rookie Paige Bueckers had 16 points and 10 assists. Myisha Hines-Allen and Amy Okonkwo each scored 11 for the short-handed Wings, who only had eight players available because of injuries.
Howard scored 14 points in the first half and Gray added 12 as Atlanta led 49-40 at the break. The Dream ended the half by scoring 27 of the final 40 points.
Siegrist sank a 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds left in the third quarter to pull Dallas within 71-67. But Naz Hillmon made a reverse layup with 7:31 left in the fourth to cap Atlanta’s 10-0 run and make it 81-67.
FEVER 76, SPARKS 75
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aliyah Boston had 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a career-high six steals to help Indiana beat Los Angeles.
Odyssey Sims added 21 points against her former team, including scoring Indiana’s final five points. Boston made a key steal with 1.9 seconds left to seal the win.
Indiana (21-18) moved a half-game ahead of Seattle (21-19) for sixth place in the WNBA standings with five games to play. Los Angeles (17-20) fell two games behind Golden State for the final playoff spot.
Los Angeles forward Azura Stevens grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on a putback attempt with 31.6 seconds left. She made 1 of 2 free throws to give Los Angeles a 75-74 lead.
Indiana secured an offensive rebound on its next possession and Sims made a floater in the lane to retake the lead with 13.6 left.
After a timeout, Los Angeles guard Rickea Jackson was trapped at the free-throw line before finding Kelsey Plum, who lost control of it and threw it to Boston for Los Angeles’ 22nd turnover. Kelsey Mitchell missed two free throws with 0.4 seconds left and Los Angeles did not get a shot off before the buzzer.
The Associated Press
