UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- — Brittney Griner scored 17 points off the bench, Rhyne Howard added 15 and the Atlanta Dream beat the Connecticut Sun 88-72 on Wednesday night to move into second place in the WNBA standings.
Atlanta (30-14) became just the sixth team in league history to reach 30 wins during the regular season. The Dream can secure the No. 2 seed in the playoffs if Las Vegas (29-14) loses to Los Angeles on Thursday.
Brionna Jones and Allisha Gray each added 13 points, and Nia Coffey scored 10 for Atlanta. Howard went 3 of 7 from distance to become the ninth player in WNBA history to make 100 or more 3-pointers in a season.
Marina Mabrey scored 22 points and Aneesah Morrow had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut (11-33). Saniya Rivers set a Sun rookie record with 43 3-pointers this season. Tina Charles scored nine to eclipse 700 points this season, the first time in her 14-year WNBA career she’s hit the mark.
Atlanta took control in the first quarter after closing on a 17-2 run to build a 31-13 lead. The Dream shot 64.7% from the field in the quarter, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, while Connecticut was 5 of 15 (33.3%) overall.
Coffey made a corner 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left in the second quarter to give Atlanta a 51-28 halftime lead.
The Sun, who trailed by 24, got within 63-54 late in the third quarter after a 16-4 run. But the Dream closed the frame by scoring six of the final eight points for a 71-58 lead.
