The Liberty have certainly gotten the jump on the Mercury this season. Shameka Christon scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half as New York knocked off Phoenix for the second time this season with a 93-83 road win on Saturday. The Mercury also lost 105-72 at New York on June 22. The Mercury's Cappie Pondexter missed her second straight game due to fatigue. Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images
Dream Come Through Against Sky
Atlanta Celebrates First-Ever Victory: Atlanta saw a Dream become a reality on Saturday. Ivory Latta and Jennifer Lacy led the way with 18 points each and Kristin Haynie gave the Dream a spark off the bench, as they celebrated the first win in franchise history by topping the Sky. Credit colleague Josh Cohen as he predicted several days ago this would be the night that Atlanta snapped its 0-for-17 skid to open the season. It wasn’t easy and the Dream gave their fans some tense moments down the stretch. Things also didn’t start off well as Atlanta trailed 19-6 in the first quarter before outscoring the Sky 40-16 the rest of the half. Haynie posted 11 points and 11 assists off the bench and was huge in the second half, drawing the praise of Dream coach Marynell Meadors in her postgame interview. Latta, who played only 15 minutes, scored 16 of her 18 in the second half. To be fair, the Sky is sorely missing rookie Sylvia Fowles, who helped Chicago trounce Atlanta in a home-and-home series last month.
ALSO MAKING HEADLINES ...
Douglas-led Fever Remain Hot Against Sun:Katie Douglas continues to make life tough for her former team. Douglas posted 18 points to help the Fever power past the Sun for an 81-74 victory on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse. Douglas, who was traded to Indiana from Connecticut this past offseason, is now 2-0 against her old team, as the Fever also ended a five-game losing streak at home in the series. Douglas led all scorers with 23 points as Indiana won the first meeting 75-46 on May 27. The Fever also got their first consecutive wins over the Sun since the very first two meetings between the teams in 2003. Tammy Sutton-Brown also had 18 in the win and Tully Bevilaqua finished with 17. More importantly, Indiana (9-8), which is sitting third in the Eastern Conference, made up a game on first-place Connecticut (13-6).
Douglas
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"I'm just going out there and doing my thing. They caught us off guard (early). We had to sort of switch gears, and we did."
-- Storm star Lauren Jackson after she scored a season-high 34 points in her team's 96-71 home win over the Lynx on Saturday. Jackson was coming off a 33-point performance in Thursday's 84-71 victory at home against New York.
Sancho Lyttle showed she can do it both with and without Tina Thompson. With Thompson back in the fold on Saturday, Lyttle posted 10 points and 13 rebounds as the surprising Comets rolled past the Monarchs. Thompson was back in the lineup after missing four games because of a broken finger suffered against the Silver Stars a few weeks ago. In her absence, Lyttle averaged more than 15 points filling in for the Comets ace. Lyttle also added three assists, three blocks and two assists in Saturday’s win, which moved Houston (9-9) to the .500 mark for the first time after an 0-5 start. Lyttle is rising star to be sure.
SHINING OFF THE BENCH
Kristin Haynie saw extended action on Saturday and she made the most of her opportunity. Posting 11 points and 11 assists, Haynie gave the Dream a much-needed lift off the bench as Atlanta made history with its win over Chicago. It’s the first victory in franchise history for the Dream, which lost its first 17 games to establish a new league record for worst start to a season. Haynie shared the point guard duties with starter Ivory Latta, who played on 15 minutes to Haynie’s 31. Latta played only five minutes in the first half. Both were on the floor at the end to celebrate.
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