Rhyne Howard scores 25 and shuts down Paige Bueckers to lead Dream past Dallas Wings 86-69
The Atlanta Dream dismantled the Dallas Wings 86-69 at Gateway Center Arena on Friday behind a dominant defensive performance. They held Paige Bueckers to a career-low seven points and limited Arike Ogunbowale to two points on 1-of-11 shooting.
Rhyne Howard led all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, going a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line and adding eight assists, four steals and two blocks. She was equally impressive on the defensive end, shadowing Bueckers for the majority of the game and making life miserable for Dallas' franchise player.
"Rhy had her probably 90% of the possessions and Rhy was fantastic," Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. "Rhy is locked in. She has just an amazing overall game. I've seen it in training camp all year. This has been a different approach for Rhy from the very beginning of the year. I think we're starting to see what she is capable of becoming. That was just an all-around high-level exceptional game by Rhy."
Angel Reese praised Howard, as well, after the game.
"She can score on all levels and also on the defensive end; she brings an intensity to our team," Reese said. "She plays at a high standard every single play and every single possession. She's just a good leader for us. All-Star caliber player, MVP caliber player, she doesn't get enough credit for it."
Allisha Gray, the WNBA's leading scorer averaging 25 points per game, finished with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Reese added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds, one short of a double-double. Te-Hina Paopao came off the bench to hit all three of her three-point attempts, finishing with nine points in 13 minutes.
When Dallas opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 64-63 lead, it briefly silenced the home crowd. Atlanta responded immediately, rattling off three straight baskets, including a layup by Reese, to go back on top 69-64. The Dream then closed the game on a 23-5 run, turning a tight contest into a blowout and pushing the final margin to 17.
Howard described the fourth-quarter resilience as a sign of what this team is made of.
"The fact that we can do it in the fourth quarter when it matters the most, it just shows our resilience," Howard said.
Smesko credited Dallas for its fight before acknowledging how well his team responded.
"You give Dallas a lot of credit, they kept fighting, they were crashing the boards hard, they were getting up in passing lanes," Smesko said. "But I'm really happy with how our team responded the last six or seven minutes of the fourth quarter. We got good shots, we made it difficult for them, and we were able to get a little bit of separation."
The Dream held the Wings to their lowest point total all season. Awak Kuier finished with 16 points and four rebounds, and Odyssey Sims added 14 points with five assists.
Atlanta improves to 3-1 on the season. Dallas falls to 3-3. The Dream will host the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday at the Gateway Center Arena.
