Delle Donne has season-high 26 points, Mystics beat Dream
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COLLEGE PARK, Ga. -- — Elena Delle Donne scored nine of her season-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and the Washington Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream 85-66 on Wednesday night.
Delle Donne was 10 of 17 from the field and had eight rebounds. Myisha Hines-Allen added 14 points, Natasha Cloud had 13, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough a season-high 12 and Ariel Atkins 10 for Washington (14-10).
Delle Donne scored 13 points in the first half, including a fadeaway from the right block and then stepped into a deep fast-break 3-pointer — which gave the Mystics the lead for good — to spark a 9-0 run that made it 41-36 at halftime.
Washington scored nine consecutive points to make it 67-56 with six minutes to play after Delle Donne hit a short turn-around jumper. The Dream trailed by at least seven the rest of the way.
Monique Billings, Cheyenne Parker, Tiffany Hayes and Rhyne Howard scored 10 points apiece for Atlanta (10-12).
Howard played just 8 1/2 first-half minutes after picking up her second personal foul late in the first quarter and never found offensive rhythm. The No. 1 overall selection in April's draft, Howard went 0 for 6 from 3-point range and goes into her first WNBA All-Star game having four of her last 29 3-point shots over the past five games.
The Dream, which has lost six in a row against Washington, went 0 for 13 from 3-point range.
Grammy Award winning rapper 2 Chainz, a native of College Park, watched the game courtside.