Dream-Shock Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jun 28 2012 3:04PM

Angel McCoughtry realizes she may have to play through some knee pain. How her injury responds to the Atlanta Dream's lengthy stretch on the road may play a key role in determining their success over the next eight games.

The WNBA's leading scorer and the Dream open a challenging portion of their schedule Friday night when they visit the Tulsa Shock.

After Atlanta (6-7) lost the two games she missed due to the knee injury, McCoughtry has returned to lead the Dream to back-to-back wins and was the game's top scorer in both.

However, it hasn't been easy. McCoughtry shot 7 of 20 against New York last Sunday, scoring 23 points, and she went without a point in the first quarter Tuesday as the Dream came back for a 70-58 victory over Indiana.

McCoughtry finished that game 6 of 14 from the field for 22 points. With Atlanta leading big, the Dream were able to get her some rest in the fourth quarter as she played just 4:28.

"It takes a little time to recover, but it's getting there," said McCoughtry, averaging 22.6 points. "I just want to get my explosiveness back and things like that so I can get up and down the floor. I look like grandma out there a little bit."

McCoughtry's recovery could be hindered by a tough stretch in Atlanta's schedule. The Dream play their next eight games on the road, with a break after the sixth game for the London Olympics. Atlanta is 1-3 away from home.

Coming off consecutive victories for the first time this season, the Dream will try to extend their modest winning streak against the WNBA-worst Shock (2-11).

However, after losing nine straight to open the season, Tulsa has won two of its last four, including a 91-75 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Rookie Riquna Williams scored a season-high 27 points and Ivory Latta added 21 along with eight assists. The Shock led 23-12 at the end of the first quarter and had a double-digit advantage most of the way.

"Tonight was very rewarding after some tough games we've been through," coach Gary Kloppenburg said. "We wanted to get physical and give them some resistance from the start of the game, and our players followed the plan all night."

Improved defense has been a key lately for the Shock, who are giving up 82.1 points per game - second-most in the WNBA. Tulsa has held three of its last four opponents to 75 or fewer points. It forced 24 turnovers in the win over the Sparks and 25 in the previous victory against Phoenix.

Atlanta has won four straight in this series since losing to the Shock in the 2009 playoffs.

McCoughtry scores 24 in Dream's win over Shock

Posted Jun 29 2012 10:49PM

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Angel McCoughtry scored 24 points and Armintie Price added 19 as the Atlanta Dream beat the Tulsa Shock 102-92 Friday night for their third straight win.

Tiffany Hayes had 15 points, Aneika Henry scored 14 and Cathrine Kraayeveld added 11 to help Atlanta (7-7) finish with its highest scoring total of the season.

Ivory Latta and Glory Johnson scored 16 points each to lead Tulsa (2-12). Riquna Williams had 15 points, Kayla Pedersen added 14 and Temeka Johnson 12.

The Dream led by 24 in the third quarter before the Shock used a 20-7 run to pull to 85-78 on Latta's layup with 7:11 to go.

``We let up a little in the second half. When you get a big lead like that, it's hard to sustain it,'' said Atlanta head coach Marynell Meadors. ``Tulsa always gets our attention. They have a team filled with quick scorers and you can't ever relax against them.''

McCoughtry followed with a 3-pointer and Henry had putback on the next possession to push the Dream's lead to 12 just 1 1/2 minutes later.

Tulsa got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

``I thought we played well in the second half, but we have to do that in both halves,'' Latta said. ``We just had a lack of defense in the first quarter. They were getting easy baskets and we can't let teams do that. We have to play hard for 40 minutes.''

Atlanta, which improved to 5-0 against the Shock since the franchise moved to Tulsa prior to the 2010 season, finished 61 percent from the field (39 for 64) - including 6 for 11 on 3s.

``I thought we played hard tonight and shot the ball well. We also hit the boards very well,'' said Meadors, who saw her team hold a 36-26 advantage in rebounding.

The Dream jumped out to an 11-point lead late at the end of the first quarter thanks in part to a strong start from Price. Averaging just 8.1 points coming in, Price had 10 in the first quarter as Atlanta connected on 12 of its 17 shots in the period to grab a 28-17 advantage.

McCoughtry took over in the second quarter, scoring 11 of her 13 first-half points, including the final four points to help the Dream to a 57-43 edge at halftime.

• Dream: --
• Shock: --

• Dream: --
• Shock: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
• Officials: #55 Eric Brewton, #9 Denise Brooks, #34 Maj Forsberg
• Attendance: 4235
• Duration: 2:02