McCoughtry scores 28, Castro Marques has 8 of her 21 in late rally as Dream beat Liberty 82-75

McCoughtry, Castro Marques lead Dream past Liberty

ATLANTA — Angel McCoughtry had 28 points and the Atlanta Dream went on a late 11-0 run to snap a four-game losing streak with an 82-75 victory over the New York Liberty on Sunday.

Iziane Castro Marques had 21 points for the Dream (15-9), including eight in the decisive final streak. Erika DeSouza added 14 points and 10 rebounds, while McCoughtry also had 10 rebounds and six assists.

Atlanta moved into second place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind Indiana and half-game ahead of third-place Washington.

Cappie Pondexter scored 28 points to lead New York (11-11), which fell into a last-place tie with Chicago — one game behind fourth-place Connecticut. Leilani Mitchell scored 13 points, Plenette Pierson added 12 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 11.

The Liberty led 72-71 with less than 3 minutes remaining, but didn’t score again until Mitchell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. New York missed four field goals and turned the ball over twice during the drought.

Castro Marques’ jumper gave the Dream the lead for good with 2:39 to go, and McCoughtry’s jumper made it 75-72 about 1½ minutes later. Castro Marques hit a jumper with 40 seconds remaining, and then added two free throws less than 5 seconds later.

After Shalee Lehning made a free throw with 19 seconds left, Castro Marques had a layup 12 seconds later.

The Dream trailed by 10 points late in the second quarter before rallying to tie the score at 51-all on McCoughtry’s 3 with 3:42 left in the third. Castro Marques put them ahead with a jumper nearly a minute later.

Pondexter had a 3 and a three-point play to give New York a 59-56 lead with about 1 minute left in the period. McCoughtry, who had 14 points in the third quarter, followed with a jumper and Lyttle’s tip-in gave the Dream a 60-59 lead heading to the fourth.

The Liberty opened the second quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 28-15 lead on McWilliams-Franklin’s jumper near the midpoint of the period. Pierson’s jumper stretched the advantage to 37-27 with 2:19 left in the first half.

After Atlanta pulled within six, Mitchell hit a 3 and McWilliams-Franklin made a free throw to restore the Liberty’s 10-point lead.