Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 95-84, close in on a top-4 WNBA seed

NEW YORK (AP) — Jordin Canada scored 19 points, Angel Reese added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 95-84 on Monday night.

DeWanna Bonner had 17 points and Rhyne Howard 16 for the Dream (29-14), who moved closer to clinching a top-four seed in the WNBA playoffs. A win against New York on Wednesday or a loss by Indiana in one of its final two games would give the Dream home court in the opening round of the postseason.

The Liberty (26-17) had their three-game winning streak end and now will be on the road in the opening round of the playoffs.

Atlanta led by three at the half and extended the lead to 73-62 after three quarters thanks to Allisha Gray and Howard. After a scoreless first half, Gray had 12 points in the period, including seven during a 9-2 run to start it. Howard then took over with 10 points in the quarter.

New York, which played in Toronto on Sunday, got within eight a few times, but could get no closer.

Breanna Stewart had 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Liberty. Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 12 rebounds.

New York was up by one after the first quarter as Pauline Astier had 10 points. The Liberty held Howard and Gray in check as they missed all five of their shots in the opening period.

It stayed tight in the second quarter with neither team able to get much separation. Bonner grabbed an offensive rebound with 3.1 seconds left and was fouled as she converted the basket. Her three-point play gave the Dream a 41-38 lead at the half. The Liberty were 1 for 13 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half.

The Liberty honored all seven of their women's FIBA World Cup participants before the game. The team had at least one player on all four of the semifinal teams and Stewart led the U.S. to the gold medal and earned MVP honors of the tournament. Marine Johannes and Astier were on France, which took home the silver medal. Raquel Carrera was on Spain, which won the bronze.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball