Rhyne Howard, Dream stay hot vs. Caitlin Clark, Fever

Rhyne Howard scored 24 points and the Atlanta Dream defeated the visiting Fever 113-96 on Saturday afternoon, claiming a victory for the second time in three days against Indiana.

Allisha Gray racked up 22 points, Naz Hillmon tallied 19, Angel Reese posted 18 and Jordin Canada supplied 12 points and 12 assists for the Dream (11-4), who have won five of their last six games.

Caitlin Clark's 26 points led Indiana, while Kelsey Mitchell had 16 and Aliyah Boston added 13 and a game-high nine rebounds. The Fever (9-7) had won four straight until the back-to-back outcomes against Atlanta, giving up season-high point totals in both games this week.

Howard made four 3-pointers and went 8-for-8 on free throws. Reese came up short of her 11th double-double of the season but led the Dream with eight rebounds. Atlanta used only eight players until the waning minutes.

Reese had six points during the Dream's 13-0 third-quarter run that created a 73-65 lead on Howard's 3-point shot.

The Fever, who couldn't overcome 19 turnovers, went more than five minutes without a field goal until Clark converted on a drive with 2:17 left in the third.

Indiana trailed 84-74 after three quarters. The Fever's 37 points across the second and third quarters combined matched their first-quarter output.

Yet Clark kept the Fever in it with 23 points through three quarters by shooting 10 of 14 from the field. She ended 11 of 18 with three 3s.

Howard hit a 3-pointer for the first basket of the fourth quarter, while it took almost 2 1/2 minutes before the Fever scored in the quarter. Atlanta's lead reached 20 with less than three minutes to play.

It was vastly different from the beginning when the Fever dashed out to a 37-30 lead after the opening quarter. Indiana then built an 11-point lead by scoring seven of the first 10 points in the second quarter.

--Field Level Media