Early surge helps Dream top short-handed Liberty

Allisha Gray scored a game-high 19 points and the Atlanta Dream earned a 78-62 victory over the visiting New York Liberty on Saturday at College Park, Ga.

Brionna Jones added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Dream (24-13), who won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Naz Hillmon chipped in 11 points and eight boards, while Rhyne Howard had nine points, eight rebounds and six assists for Atlanta.

New York (22-15) was paced by Kennedy Burke's 13 points off the bench, while Jonquel Jones added 11. Emma Meesseman had 10 points for the Liberty, who have dropped five of their last seven.

New York was without Breanna Stewart (knee) and Sabrina Ionescu (foot).

After taking a 24-14 lead into the second quarter, Atlanta's advantage ballooned to 17 on Hillmon's 3-pointer with 5:16 left in the first half, pushing the Dream's lead to 39-22.

Atlanta's largest lead of the opening half came after Gray's 3-pointer and Howard's mid-range jumper made it 46-25 with 2:02 remaining. Natasha Cloud's free throws cut New York's halftime-deficit to 48-29.

Gray led all scorers with 11 first-half points, while Jones paced the Liberty with eight.

Leonie Fiebich's 3-pointer pulled New York within 58-38 midway through the third quarter, before Maya Caldwell's four straight points and Brionna Jones' layup pushed Atlanta's lead to 64-38 with 2:33 remaining in the quarter.

Meesseman's layup followed by a pair of Burke baskets trimmed the Liberty's deficit to 64-44 entering the fourth.

The run extended into the final quarter, with Rebekah Gardner and Marine Johannes layups followed by Burke's basket and Johannes' 3-pointer in New York's 15-0 run, cutting the deficit to 64-53 with 7:04 left.

Gray's four straight points stopped the New York run and began a 10-0 Atlanta spurt to seal the victory.

--Field Level Media