Allisha Gray notched a pullup jumper and converted a pair of free throws with a little over a minute to play to help the Dream survive a late-game surge against the Washington Mystics, winning 92-91 on Friday at Gateway Center Arena.
With the win, the Dream (9-4) improved to 3-0 after a loss and 5-1 at home this season. Gray, who finished with five points in the first half, led the Dream with 18 points on 6-of-15 shots from the floor, to go with two rebounds, one steals and two blocked shots in the contest.
Four other Dream players finished in double figures. Brionna Jones finished with 14 points, four rebounds and six assists and one steal. Rhyne Howard, who was one of two players (Gray) who was held scoreless in the first quarter, registered 13 points, five rebounds, six assists, followed by Jordin Canada with 11 points and Brittney Griner with 10 points and seven rebounds. The Dream also finished the contest shooting a whopping 22-of-24 from the free-throw line.
With 6:33 to play in fourth quarter, Shakira Austin converted on a tough layup at the rim as Washington trailed the Dream 81-74. Over the next several possessions, the Dream maintained a double-digit lead behind a pair of free throws by Jones, Canada and Howard. But Washington wouldn’t go away easily — using multiple buckets by Austin, a pair of free throws by Brittney Sykes and a Sonia Citron floater to cut the deficit to seven, trailing the Dream 87-80.
From there, the Mystics (5-8) continued their comeback, with Sykes finding Austin at the rim for a layup and a three-point play, cutting the Dream’s deficit to one point. Gray, who stepped away briefly in the quarter, returned to the court and delivered on a jumper to give the Dream a 90-87 lead. Then, Canada generated a steal off Mystics’ Emily Engstler before pushing the ball to Gray, who was fouled by Sykes on a layup on the break. The two-time All-Star converted the free throws.
After Engstler scored her first points of the period, Gray fouled Sykes at the top of the key with 0.1 seconds remaining in regulation, sending her to the free-throw line for three shots. However, after the game, Dream coach Karl Smesko didn’t think like Gray fouled the Mystics’ guard. Sykes made only two of her three free throws, and the Dream held on to seal the victory.
“I wasn’t expecting a call, but it happened,” Smesko said. “Now we got to hope that a really good player (Sykes) misses at least one and fortunately she did.”
Austin, who entered Friday’s game averaging 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, finished with a career-high 28 points to go with 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks to lead the way for the Mystics. Sykes chipped in 21 points, dished eight assists and grabbed five rebounds, and Citron tallied 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal.
As a team, the Mystics outscored the Dream 52-40 in points in the paint, 19-9 in second-chance points and outrebounded the team 33-24, something that Smesko said the team must continue to improve on.
“Every offensive rebound we gave up, they (Mystics) scored on, and that really gave them a chance to get back in (the game), a big fourth quarter, 31 points (for Mystics),” Smesko said postgame.
“Even though offensively, we got pretty good shots in the fourth (quarter), we did not guard them as well as we’d like. We didn’t rebound as well as we’d like. … It’s one of those things. To finish these games, we’re going to have to be good at both ends for the entire game.”
The Dream extended their lead to 16 points with Gray — who finished with five in the first half — finding her rhythm on offense. Gray delivered on a step-back jumper near the right elbow of the lane, giving her nine points in the frame, and the Dream a 69-55 lead with 1:54 to play in the quarter. A couple of possessions later, Engstler converted on a pair of free throws as the Mystics trailed the Dream 72-60 entering the fourth quarter.
Austin drew a foul while connecting on an acrobatic layup. Her three-point play tied the score at 30-30 with 6:08 to play in the quarter. However, the Dream outscored the Mystics 19-8 over the remaining portion of the quarter, using 21 bench points to take a 47-38 lead at the break. At halftime, Naz Hillmon led the Dream with eight points, while Gray and Howard finished with a combined nine points off 20% shooting (2-of-10) from the floor.
Washington ran to a 6-3 lead early in the game, with multiple buckets at the rim by Sykes, and extended their lead to as many as seven points with 5:50 to play in the first quarter.
The Dream relied on their bench production, as Hillmon and Te-Hina Paopao combined for 13 of the team’s 24 points to take a 24-22 advantage.
The Dream will return to action at 3 p.m. Sunday against the Chicago Sky.
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