Angel Reese, Dream stay hot by fending off slumping Storm

Angel Reese had 21 points and 13 rebounds on Friday to help lead the Atlanta Dream to a 98-89 victory over the Seattle Storm in College Park, Ga.

Naz Hillmon added 18 points and Allisha Gray scored 16 for the Dream (18-10), who won their fifth straight game. Brionna Jones had 14 points off the bench, while Jordin Canada chipped in 10 points and nine assists.

Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle (6-25) with 23 points, followed by Dominique Malonga's 16-point, 13-rebound double-double. Reserve Ezi Magbegor scored 12 points before fouling out for the last-place Storm, who dropped their eighth straight game.

After Hillmon's triple extended Atlanta's 14-point halftime lead to 50-33 on the opening possession of the second half, Seattle pulled within 10 on Malonga's mid-range jumper with 7:04 left in the third quarter.

The visitors continued to chip away as Katie Lou Samuelson's 3-pointer sliced Atlanta's lead to 66-59 entering the final quarter.

Seattle cut the deficit to five on Awa Fam's triple before Reese's second 3-pointer of the fourth began a 7-0 run to give the Dream a 78-66 lead.

The Storm answered with six straight points, but Gray's layup stamped a 9-2 Atlanta run to create a 13-point cushion with 3:53 remaining.

Another late charge pulled the Storm within four, but Atlanta made its final six free-throw attempts to seal the win.

Atlanta finished the opening quarter on a 13-1 run to grab a 27-15 edge.

After Hiedeman's mid-range jumper cut the Storm's deficit to eight with three minutes left in the first half, Hillmon's triple and Reese's layup pushed the margin to 13.

Seattle's Jade Melbourne then hit a triple before Hillmon and Jaylyn Sherrod's back-to-back layups gave the Dream a 47-33 halftime advantage. Hillmon's 12 first-half points led all scorers, while Flau'Jae Johnson paced Seattle with nine before going scoreless in the second half.

The Storm committed 14 turnovers before halftime, including five by Johnson.

--Field Level Media