Atlanta 101, New York 98 (OT) · State Farm Arena · Dream lead series 2-0
New York shot about 55 percent from the field, made nearly half its threes and got 35 points from Breanna Stewart. It still wasn't enough, because the Dream kept taking the ball away. Naz Hillmon's layup with 20.8 seconds left in overtime gave Atlanta the lead for good and a 2-0 edge in the series.
The Dream did it without All-Star Allisha Gray, their leading scorer, who sat with the left hand injury she suffered in Game 1. Six Atlanta players reached double figures, and rookie Izzy Borlase soaked up Gray's minutes with 11 points off the bench, hitting three threes.
Regulation drama
Trailing 86-80 with under two minutes left, New York chipped back — Sabrina Ionescu hit a deep three to cut it in half. Angel Reese's two free throws made it 88-85 with 14.5 seconds left, but Marine Fauthoux answered with a tying three at 10.3. Rhyne Howard's floater at the horn rolled off the rim.
Overtime
Atlanta scored the first five points of OT, New York answered with eight straight — Jonquel Jones' three put the Liberty ahead with 2:01 left — and the teams traded leads from there. Stewart's bucket made it 98-97 New York before Hillmon's go-ahead layup, and Reese iced it with two free throws. Reese scored six of Atlanta's 13 overtime points.
The ending carried a controversy: the Liberty believed they had a timeout to advance the ball on the final possession and were told they did not. Stewart's desperation heave missed.
By the numbers
- Angel Reese — 23 pts, 7 reb
- Jordin Canada — 23 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast
- Rhyne Howard — 18 pts · Naz Hillmon — 12 pts, OT game-winner
- Izzy Borlase — 11 pts off the bench
- Breanna Stewart — 35 pts (25 in the 1st half)
- Liberty turnovers: 16 → 28 Atlanta points
Up next: Game 3 Friday, Oct. 9 at Barclays Center. No team in WNBA history has come back from 0-2.
Published on womenssec.com. Statistics referenced are as of the publication date.