Rhyne Howard puts up 23 as Dream overpower Mercury

Rhyne Howard compiled 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds on Wednesday as the Atlanta Dream earned a 96-82 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in College Park, Ga.

Allisha Gray scored 20 points and Jordin Canada added 17 for Atlanta (19-11), which posted its sixth victory in seven games. Angel Reese recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds while Naz Hillmon finished with 10 points in the runaway win.

In her second game with Phoenix (12-20), Kelsey Plum led the way with 19 points, while Alyssa Thomas added 17 points and seven assists. Kahleah Copper chipped in 14 points and DeWanna Bonner had 11 points and 11 boards for the Mercury, who had won four of their previous five contests.

Atlanta made 14 of 33 3-point attempts (42.4%) while drilling 16 of 17 (94.1%) from the foul line. Phoenix wound up 7 of 24 (29.2%) from long range and 23 of 26 (88.5%) on free throws.

The Dream pushed their seven-point halftime lead to 15 on Hillmon's 3-pointer halfway through the third quarter. After Thomas' layup broke up a 10-0 run, the Dream extended the margin to 20 with 2:49 left in the third, as Howard and Jaylyn Sherrod connected on consecutive triples.

Canada's 3-pointer closed out the third and gave the Dream an 81-66 advantage.

The Mercury outscored Atlanta 16-15 in a defensive fourth quarter.

Atlanta used an early 9-2 run to take an eight-point lead on Gray's layup with 2:38 left in the first quarter. The Dream were up 33-24 entering the second.

The margin ballooned to 15 after Gray's consecutive triples stamped an 8-0 run at the 7:38 mark of the second.

The Mercury answered with an extended 19-6 surge, pulling within two on Copper's layup with 1:37 remaining in the period.

Atlanta took a 54-47 lead into halftime. The Dream were led by Gray's 17 and Howard's 15 first-half points, while Thomas' 13 points and Plum's 11 before halftime paced the Mercury.

--Field Level Media