Tina Charles, Allisha Gray pace Dream past Sparks

Tina Charles recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds to help the Atlanta Dream hold off the Los Angeles Sparks 87-74 Sunday afternoon at College Park, Ga.

Allisha Gray had a solid day as well, pouring in a game-high 25 points, including a fadeaway jumper with two seconds showing on the shot clock as Atlanta stretched its lead to 80-71 with 1:49 left in the game.

Rhyne Howard finished with 16 and Aerial Powers added 13 for the Dream (6-6), who snapped a two-game losing streak and are 2-0 against the Sparks (4-10) this season.

Rookies Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson scored 16 points apiece for Los Angeles, which falls to 0-3 on its seven-game road swing. Aari McDonald had 14 points and Dearica Hamby finished with 10 points, respectively.

Howard's 3-pointer with 6:55 to go put the Dream up 67-66 and Gray's layup made it 69-66 before Powers knocked down a jumper to stretch the Dream advantage to 71-66 with 6:12 left.

The Dream led 45-40 but Los Angeles went into the fourth with a 61-60 edge. The game was tied at 64 with under eight minutes to play but Atlanta dominated down the stretch, holding the Sparks to only eight points in the final 7:12 of action.

Charles hit back-to-back jumpers, the second with 4:02 left in the first quarter as the Dream took a 14-10 lead and forced the Sparks to call a timeout.

Atlanta led 20-14 after one quarter and Powers drilled an open 3-pointer with 6:35 left in the half as Atlanta grabbed its first double-digit lead at 29-19.

One thing Atlanta did well in the first half was limit Hamby's impact as a scorer, holding her to only four points. She came into the day with 11 double-doubles on the season and averaging nearly 20 points per game.

But the Sparks found a way to hang around, closing within five at halftime after McDonald buried a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds to go.

--Field Level Media