Reese has career night with 31 points, Dream hold off Mercury 99-89 despite Copper's 38 points

Updated Aug. 23, 2026 12:29 a.m. ET

Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Angel Reese scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season and the Atlanta Dream clinched a playoff berth with a 99-89 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday night.

Rhyne Howard added 20 points, Allisha Gray had 17 and Jordin Canada 12 for the Dream (24-13), who have won five of their last six games. They moved a half-game ahead of Indiana, which lost earlier in night, for the fourth seed, with seven games to go for Atlanta.

Kahleah Copper had 38 points for the Mercury (13-24), who were in the WNBA Finals last season, but were eliminated from the playoff chase with the loss.

Alyssa Thomas had her 22nd regular-season triple-double with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Thomas also has six triple-doubles in the playoffs. DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.

Reese, a 43% shooter for the season, was 14 of 21 from the field after going 9 of 9 the previous game. Her previous career high for points was 27 in 2024 when she was a rookie with Chicago. She has set the Atlanta single-season record for double-doubles and is three shy of the league record.

Howard hit four 3-pointers as the Dream led 14-3 less than four minutes into the game. Atlanta led 29-18 after one quarter and 50-35 at the half.

With Copper scoring 17 points in the third quarter the Mercury got within one point before the Dream took a 73-68 lead into the fourth quarter. Phoenix made 13 of 22 shots in the third quarter after making just 10 of 29 in the first half.