by ATLANTA (AP) Angel McCoughtry scored 21 points and Atlanta defeated the San Antonio Stars 72-69 on Thursday night for the Dream’s first victory of the season.
Erika de Souza added 13 points and Tiffany Hayes 10. Shoni Schimmel did not start for the first time this season but came off of the bench to add six points for the Dream and had a team-high 3 assists.
The Dream (2-1) still didn’t solve their early-season shooting woes, making just 36.8 percent, but outrebounded the Stars 41-29. Twenty came on the offensive boards, two short of the team record. Sancho Lyttle had 10 rebounds.
The Stars (0-2) rallied from an 11-point deficit before Lyttle’s basket gave Atlanta a 68-66 lead with 2:21 remaining. The Dream extended their lead to five on McCoughtry’s layup with 1:29 left before letting the Stars get back into the game without using any time.
Kayla McBride made two free throws on a clear-path foul with 44.1 seconds left and Danielle Robinson added another free throw when she was fouled before the ball was inbounded to cut the lead to 71-69. But after a Stars rebound, Jia Perkins was called for a charge. Moments later McCoughtry hit one of two free throws and McBride missed a good look at a 3-pointer as time ran out.
