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Angel Reese pulled in her sixth offensive rebound with 4:51 to play Friday night and put the miss back up, and the basket gave Atlanta an 83-72 lead in a 98-89 win over Seattle at Gateway Center Arena @ College Park.
That rebound was the 137th of the season for Reese, moving her past Brionna Jones' 136 for the most offensive rebounds by a Dream player in a single season. Jones scored 14 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.
Reese was asked about the record after the game.
"Honestly, every night I just want to come out and just be consistent for my team and give them opportunities to get a second chance," Reese said. "And I think just me offensive rebounding and being able to kick out to amazing shooters — it's so easy, and honestly just easy to get assists, too."
Reese finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists in 37:34, her 19th double-double of the season. She shot 5-of-12 from the field, 2-of-5 from three, and 9-of-12 at the line.
Reese was asked about the two 3-pointers.
"These are shots that we work on every single day," Reese said. "It obviously always doesn't show up right away when you want it to, but it feels good for the small win, so I'm going to take it today and just continue to try to get better every day."
Dream coach Karl Smesko was asked about Reese's shooting in warm-ups and in the game.
"It definitely feels good to see her make it, because she's capable and she's been improving, and I think within the last week we really started breaking it down on film and stuff, and I think it really kind of clicked with her," Smesko said. "And she just looked a lot more comfortable with the release today. Even the ones that missed, you could see that it was a lot smoother."
Naz Hillmon scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-5 from three, in 25:28. Allisha Gray added 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Jordin Canada had 10 points and 9 assists and went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Rhyne Howard was held to 9 points on 3-of-13 shooting and 3-of-9 from three, with 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.
Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Dominique Malonga posted 16 points and 13 rebounds, 11 of them defensive, for her 12th career double-double. That total moved her to seventh on the Storm's all-time double-doubles list. Ezi Magbegor scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting in her first game since July 9. Awa Fam grabbed her 100th career defensive rebound, becoming the third-youngest player in WNBA history to reach that number.
Seattle turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter, and Atlanta scored 10 points off those giveaways on the way to a 27-15 lead. Jones was assessed a flagrant 1 foul with 4:18 left in the period, and Hiedeman made 2 of the 3 free throws. The Storm committed 15 turnovers in the first half and 5 in the second.
Hiedeman was asked about the first quarter.
"Today it was just the turnovers. I think we had 10 or 11 turnovers, if I'm not mistaken, in the first quarter," Hiedeman said. "And then again, they had 27 points in the first quarter. So they're scoring off of our turnovers."
Storm coach Sonia Raman was asked about the turnover totals.
"I'll definitely start with crediting Atlanta," Raman said. "They pressure the ball. They're really active. And they get in passing lanes and really, really try to force turnovers, and they do a good job with that."
Hillmon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer for a 50-33 lead, the largest of the night at 17 points. Seattle won the quarter 26-19. Katie Lou Samuelson scored all 8 of her points in the third and went 2-of-2 from three in the period.
Reese opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for a 69-59 lead. Fam banked in a 3-pointer with 8:00 left to cut it to 71-66. Reese answered with another 3-pointer, and Canada followed with a fast-break layup to make it 76-66.
Hillmon was asked what she has learned about the team through its recent close finishes.
"There was a point in the game where it might've got to like four points, and we were able to pick it back up and stretch it back out to 10," Hillmon said. "And we kinda play this game of letting teams come close to closing in, and then resetting and stretching out the lead."
Jade Melbourne's driving layup with 43.4 seconds left cut Atlanta's lead to 92-88. Gray made two free throws with 30.6 seconds remaining, and Canada made four more in the final 25.1 seconds.
Smesko was asked about the finish.
"I felt like just different times, different people made big plays for us that helped us close the thing out, but I don't think it was ever really comfortable until the last 10 seconds," Smesko said.
Jaylyn Sherrod scored 7 points in 8:38 off the bench and made her only 3-point attempt.
Smesko was asked about Sherrod's minutes at backup point guard.
"She's super fast, so we get to keep our transition game going. And she really likes to defend, so we get to keep our pressure defensively," Smesko said. "But today, I think, was kind of a breakout game for her."
Atlanta shot 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the field, 10-of-26 (38.5%) from three, and 34-of-39 (87.2%) at the line. Seattle shot 30-of-68 (44.1%) and 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three, and made 24 of its 30 free throws. The Storm outscored the Dream 42-32 in the paint and scored 23 points off 17 Atlanta turnovers. Atlanta finished with 19 second-chance points and 18 points off 20 Seattle turnovers.
Te-Hina Paopao did not play because of a right leg injury. Madina Okot was a coach's decision for the third time in four games.
Smesko was asked about Okot's place in the rotation.
"Madina's really good, and she's going to help us, and she's going to get minutes," Smesko said. "Seattle's been kind of a tough matchup for her, just because their posts like to shoot threes and get out on the perimeter rather than the deep post-up."
Hiedeman and Raman were both asked about the trade deadline, two days away at the time of the game.
"I don't even know when the trade deadline is," Hiedeman said. "We ain't had nothing about nothing, so we are a unit here. I mean, obviously things are a business, but as a team, that ain't even came out of none of our mouths."
Attendance was 3,610, a sellout.
Atlanta (18-10) hosts Las Vegas on Monday. Seattle (6-25) has lost eight straight and plays at New York on Monday, the first of two games in the series.
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That rebound was the 137th of the season for Reese, moving her past Brionna Jones' 136 for the most offensive rebounds by a Dream player in a single season. Jones scored 14 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.
Reese was asked about the record after the game.
"Honestly, every night I just want to come out and just be consistent for my team and give them opportunities to get a second chance," Reese said. "And I think just me offensive rebounding and being able to kick out to amazing shooters — it's so easy, and honestly just easy to get assists, too."
Reese finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists in 37:34, her 19th double-double of the season. She shot 5-of-12 from the field, 2-of-5 from three, and 9-of-12 at the line.
Reese was asked about the two 3-pointers.
"These are shots that we work on every single day," Reese said. "It obviously always doesn't show up right away when you want it to, but it feels good for the small win, so I'm going to take it today and just continue to try to get better every day."
Dream coach Karl Smesko was asked about Reese's shooting in warm-ups and in the game.
"It definitely feels good to see her make it, because she's capable and she's been improving, and I think within the last week we really started breaking it down on film and stuff, and I think it really kind of clicked with her," Smesko said. "And she just looked a lot more comfortable with the release today. Even the ones that missed, you could see that it was a lot smoother."
Naz Hillmon scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-5 from three, in 25:28. Allisha Gray added 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Jordin Canada had 10 points and 9 assists and went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Rhyne Howard was held to 9 points on 3-of-13 shooting and 3-of-9 from three, with 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.
Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Dominique Malonga posted 16 points and 13 rebounds, 11 of them defensive, for her 12th career double-double. That total moved her to seventh on the Storm's all-time double-doubles list. Ezi Magbegor scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting in her first game since July 9. Awa Fam grabbed her 100th career defensive rebound, becoming the third-youngest player in WNBA history to reach that number.
Seattle turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter, and Atlanta scored 10 points off those giveaways on the way to a 27-15 lead. Jones was assessed a flagrant 1 foul with 4:18 left in the period, and Hiedeman made 2 of the 3 free throws. The Storm committed 15 turnovers in the first half and 5 in the second.
Hiedeman was asked about the first quarter.
"Today it was just the turnovers. I think we had 10 or 11 turnovers, if I'm not mistaken, in the first quarter," Hiedeman said. "And then again, they had 27 points in the first quarter. So they're scoring off of our turnovers."
Storm coach Sonia Raman was asked about the turnover totals.
"I'll definitely start with crediting Atlanta," Raman said. "They pressure the ball. They're really active. And they get in passing lanes and really, really try to force turnovers, and they do a good job with that."
Hillmon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer for a 50-33 lead, the largest of the night at 17 points. Seattle won the quarter 26-19. Katie Lou Samuelson scored all 8 of her points in the third and went 2-of-2 from three in the period.
Reese opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for a 69-59 lead. Fam banked in a 3-pointer with 8:00 left to cut it to 71-66. Reese answered with another 3-pointer, and Canada followed with a fast-break layup to make it 76-66.
Hillmon was asked what she has learned about the team through its recent close finishes.
"There was a point in the game where it might've got to like four points, and we were able to pick it back up and stretch it back out to 10," Hillmon said. "And we kinda play this game of letting teams come close to closing in, and then resetting and stretching out the lead."
Jade Melbourne's driving layup with 43.4 seconds left cut Atlanta's lead to 92-88. Gray made two free throws with 30.6 seconds remaining, and Canada made four more in the final 25.1 seconds.
Smesko was asked about the finish.
"I felt like just different times, different people made big plays for us that helped us close the thing out, but I don't think it was ever really comfortable until the last 10 seconds," Smesko said.
Jaylyn Sherrod scored 7 points in 8:38 off the bench and made her only 3-point attempt.
Smesko was asked about Sherrod's minutes at backup point guard.
"She's super fast, so we get to keep our transition game going. And she really likes to defend, so we get to keep our pressure defensively," Smesko said. "But today, I think, was kind of a breakout game for her."
Atlanta shot 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the field, 10-of-26 (38.5%) from three, and 34-of-39 (87.2%) at the line. Seattle shot 30-of-68 (44.1%) and 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three, and made 24 of its 30 free throws. The Storm outscored the Dream 42-32 in the paint and scored 23 points off 17 Atlanta turnovers. Atlanta finished with 19 second-chance points and 18 points off 20 Seattle turnovers.
Te-Hina Paopao did not play because of a right leg injury. Madina Okot was a coach's decision for the third time in four games.
Smesko was asked about Okot's place in the rotation.
"Madina's really good, and she's going to help us, and she's going to get minutes," Smesko said. "Seattle's been kind of a tough matchup for her, just because their posts like to shoot threes and get out on the perimeter rather than the deep post-up."
Hiedeman and Raman were both asked about the trade deadline, two days away at the time of the game.
"I don't even know when the trade deadline is," Hiedeman said. "We ain't had nothing about nothing, so we are a unit here. I mean, obviously things are a business, but as a team, that ain't even came out of none of our mouths."
Attendance was 3,610, a sellout.
Atlanta (18-10) hosts Las Vegas on Monday. Seattle (6-25) has lost eight straight and plays at New York on Monday, the first of two games in the series.
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