Allisha Gray scored 16 points, Aerial Powers added 13 and Rhyne Howard had 11 for the Atlanta Dream but it was not enough. Breanna Stewart’s 25 points powered the New York Liberty as they rolled to a 78-61 victory Thursday night at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park.
Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu each scored 10 points for the Liberty.
Dream head coach Tanisha Wright said the cumulative effect of bad energy led to defeat.
“I thought our effort was really piss poor. We weren’t a professional team today. We didn’t come to do our jobs today,” Wright said.
While Stewie is one of the best players in the world, it was the others that got the Liberty going. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton added 15 points and Leonie Fiebich added 8 points off the bench. All the while, the Liberty outrebounded the Dream 44-34. Also, the Dream could not make outside shots. They were 3-for-21 from the land of good and plenty.
“I think we need to find our identity,” Aerial Powers said. “Who do we want to be as a team, you know? The coaching staff is putting us in the right positions, and we just have to have the fortitude to go out there, hustle hard, play hard. And I think we will. I think we will.”
The Dream will travel to face Angel Reese, Chennedy Carter, Kamilla Cardoso and the Chicago Sky. Tip off is set for 5:00 P.M. Saturday afternoon. The next home game for the Dream will be against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night.
