The Atlanta Dream started the season off with a 66-59 win over the Dallas Wings on the road. Atlanta never trailed in the game and led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter. Rhyne Howard the No.1 draft pick made her debut.
Both teams struggled from the field; the Dream shot 31.3% from the field and 25.9% from three-point land. Dallas shot 24.3% from the field and 21.1% from beyond the arc. Both teams turned the ball over way too much.
Rhyne Howard
Howard led Atlanta in scoring 16 points on 4-15 shooting and 4-12 from three-point land. Head coach Tanisha Wright liked the Howard played in their season opener.
“Rhyne was solid. Especially offensively. I thought she was solid defensively for sure. Offensively Rhyne is capable of a lot more 12 threes, which we’re fine with taking threes, but she has a lot more in her tool bag that she can tap into and use, so we want to continue to challenge her to look for those things.”
Howard also added three rebounds and four assists and was outstanding on defense. The rookie had four blocks and two steals; she showed her all-around skills. Howard said Atlanta’s will to win would keep them in games this season.
“Will to win and are toughness is going to keep us in games, and you know, shocking everybody, you know, nobody’s coming out expecting us to get this done, and we did that. Everyone’s like; we got the same goal. We make sure we stay together, we stay locked in, and we come out and do work.”
Erica Wheeler and Nia Coffey both scored 11 points for Atlanta. Cheyenne Parker pitched in with ten points, ten rebounds, and three blocks. Atlanta did a great job from the free-throw line making 19-22 free throws.
Dallas was led by Marina Mabrey, 20 points off the bench on 8-16 shooting. Allisha Gray added 11 points, while Arike Ogunbowale struggled with just seven points on 3-14 from the field.
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