McCoughtry, de Souza lead Dream past Mystics in OT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WASHINGTON (AP) — Angel McCoughtry and Erika de Souza scored 23 points each and Kelly Miller's only basket of the game was a go-ahead 3-pointer with 44.4 seconds left in overtime as the Atlanta Dream beat the Washington Mystics 86-79 Saturday night.
Iziane Castro Marques added 19 points for the Dream (7-2), who rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and snapped a two-game losing streak. McCoughtry scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta didn't trail in overtime and Miller's tiebreaking 3-pointer from the left baseline gave the Dream the lead for good at 82-79. Castro Marques picked off an errant pass on the Mystics' ensuing possession and McCoughtry made two free throws with 21.7 seconds left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Crystal Langhorne scored 23 points to lead the Mystics (4-4).
Washington led 60-50 in the final minute of the third quarter before de Souza had a putback with 53.6 seconds left and Castro Marques opened the fourth with a running bank shot to pull the Dream within six.
Castro Marques and McCoughtry had layups 28 seconds apart to cut Atlanta's deficit to 66-64 with just under 6 minutes to go, and McCoughtry's jumper nearly 2 minutes later gave the Dream a 71-70 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Castro Marques made two free throws with 1:36 to go to push Atlanta's lead to 75-72, but Matee Ajavon's 3 about 30 seconds later tied the score.
Ajavon also hit a running floater with 57.9 seconds left in overtime to tie the score at 79, and Washington didn't score again.
McCoughtry led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, but she failed to score after the break until 8:11 remained in the game. The reining WNBA rookie of the year was benched for part of the Dream's loss to Chicago on Friday for "not giving the effort that we needed" according to coach Marynell Meadors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Using crafty footwork to find room inside and strength to muscle up shots despite contact, Langhorne converted four three-point plays, including three in the first quarter. Her layup with 3.9 seconds left in the second quarter capped a 7-0 run and gave the Mystics a 40-37 lead at halftime.