Tina Charles leads Dream to key win over Sparks

Tina Charles scored 23 points with 10 rebounds in her return from a one-game absence and Rhyne Howard added 19 points as the visiting Atlanta Dream moved into a tie for eighth place in the overall WNBA standings with an 80-62 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

Allisha Gray scored 12 points and Naz Hillmon added 10 points with nine rebounds for the Dream, who opened the game on a 9-0 run en route to ending a four-game losing streak. Charles, who shot 11 of 17 from the floor, missed Friday's 83-72 road loss to the Las Vegas Aces for personal reasons.

The Dream and Chicago Sky are now tied for eighth place in the overall standings at 11-21, with the Sky holding the final playoff spot on a head-to-head tiebreaker by winning two of three games so far in the season series.

The Dream and Sky are set to meet again Sept. 17 in Atlanta, with the second playoff tiebreaker winning percentage within a team's own conference.

Li Yueru scored 14 points and Rickea Jackson added 13 for the Sparks (7-25), who were unable to carry any momentum from a 94-88 home victory over the first-place New York Liberty on Wednesday. Los Angeles has lost eight of its last nine games.

Dearica Hamby scored a season-low five points for the Sparks, well under her team-leading average of 17.9 per game. Hamby added nine rebounds.

Atlanta led 25-12 after one quarter after shooting 61.1 percent from the floor and getting 14 points from Charles, who made seven of her nine shot attempts. The Dream built a 46-30 lead at halftime by shooting 52.6 percent in the opening two quarters.

The Dream led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter, their largest advantage in a game this season, and went into the final period with a 64-45 advantage.

The Dream shot 45.7 percent from the floor in the game to 37.1 percent for the Sparks and held a 42-31 rebounding advantage.

--Field Level Media