07.07Atlanta Wins Their First Game!
What a good feeling it is to say our team has won their first game!
Ivory Latta led the Dream with 18 points with 16 of her 18 in the first half to win over the Chicago Sky, 91-84 on Saturday night.
Latta was so excited about the win she danced around the court with her teammates surrounding her as blue and white confetti poured over them.
“It was just this great feeling inside knowing we finally got one,” Latta said. “I looked up into the crowd and saw all the smiling faces and felt that this is what they deserve.”
Kristin Haynie added 11 points with 11 assists.
“Everyone stepped up and just had the mind-set of contributing,” Haynie said. “It was all about us getting it done.”
And they got it done! They came back from 13-points down in the first quarter when Tamera Young, Betty Lennox and Iziane Castro Marques contributed 10 points each. Jennifer Lacy added 11, 18 points overall, to help the Dream get to a 46-35 lead at half time. Lacy says the team never gave up.
“There was so much time left,” Lacy said. “We couldn’t give up. We couldn’t let this one slip through, so we kept pushing.”
Chicago did bounce back in the second half to push a 1 point lead, 81-80, with just under 2 mintues to go in regulation.
But the momentum changed after Young made 2 free throws to put Atlanta up by 1. Then Latta scored a layup and Young added 2 more free throws to put them up by 5 with less than a minute to play.
“She’s a winner, she’s an absolute winner,” coach Meadors said of Latta. “It’s never say die with her. She just looks at me with those big eyes and I know she wants it.”
With 20 seconds left to go, Chicago’s Jia Perkins hit a 3 to cut the Atlanta lead to 2, 86-84. But the Dream pulled away by hitting 5 more free throws to win the game 91-84.
With the win, Atlanta has some newfound confidence says coach Meadors.
“We finally got some smiles,” coach said. “We can actually walk with our heads up high and shoulders back. I think now we’ll be OK.”
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July 7th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Boy, what a burden off our backs! Now lets go to the Alamo and upset the Silver Stars!
July 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Sounds good to me! If we can pull a win over Chicago, I think we can do the same with San Antonio.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Wish I was there!!! I’ve attended 6 home games and I hate to say it but I thought it would never happen. Glad they proved me wrong.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm