With the spirit of hard work and fight, I am very excited for the 2009 WNBA season in ATL! Big changes on our team, more experience for everybody and a very good feeling that things are going to be a lot of better this summer. So I really can’t wait for that. And with all of your support, ATL FANS, we are definitely going to have more fun this upcoming season.

Oh hell ya, Izi! That’s what I’m talking about! It’s going to be a great season in Atlanta!

Chamique Holdsclaw Returns to the WNBA

One of the most talented players to come out of Tennessee, Chamique Holdsclaw, has returned to the WNBA. After a 2 year hiatus of playing only in the European league, Atlanta has negotiated her trade from Los Angeles to the Dream franchise in exchange for the 13th pick of the first round in the up coming 2009 WNBA draft.

“Coming back has been something that I have been thinking about for a while,” Holdsclaw said. “The only thing that was holding me back was my body and being healthy. I realized that if I had the chance I would like to play this summer.”

Holdsclaw will bring much needed experience to Atlanta

Holdsclaw is an 8-year veteran bound to bring much needed experience and leadership to our young team. She began her WNBA career in 1999 where she was the overall first round draft pick for the Washington Mystics. While there, she played 6 years for the Mystics and averaged 19 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and was awarded the WNBA Rookie of the Year.

In 2005, Holdsclaw was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks where she played 2 seasons and averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

In June 2007, Holdsclaw announced her retirement from the WNBA but continued her basketball career over seas. Most recently she has been playing in Poland averaging17.6 points per game for TS Wisla Can-Pack Krakow in Euroleague.

“I’m just happy that Chamique is back in the WNBA,” said Dream General Manager & Head Coach Marynell Meadors. “I just think she really misses the game. I am looking forward to having her. She elevates our team to another level.”

To read more about Atlanta’s acquisition of Chamique Holdsclaw go to the Atlanta Dream website.

Atlanta Dream selected Sancho Lyttle as the first pick in the Houston Comets’ dispersal draft today. As one of Houston’s go-to players, Lyttle will be a contributing factor to the success of the team in 2009 and is expected to be a part of the starting lineup.

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9 Players, 13 Teams: Houston Comets’ Dispersal Draft
Houston Comets Dispersal Draft Results

First Pick Goes to Atlanta

There are 2 key players that are predicted to be in Atlanta’s interest during the draft on Monday, December 8. Matee Ajavon, a young talent that would be exciting to watch alongside Lennox and Latta. Sancho Lyttle, a first round draft pick for the Comets in 2005.

Lyttle seems to have the upper hand right now. She has become a go-to player for the Comets and has incredible athletic ability. Look for her to become an instant starter if picked.

Ajavon, a talented guard out of Rutgers, has the potential of becoming a strong scorer. Last season she put up 11 double-doubles and performed well when called upon to replace injured Roneeka Hodges and Mwadi Mabika.

Katie Feenstra shoots over Phoenix Mercury forward Barbara Farris during the 1st quarter of Saturday’s game.

Atlanta also committed 16 turnovers that converted to 18 points of the Mercury.

Ivory Latta led the Dream with 18 points. Iziane Castro Marques added 17. Kasha Terry had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Mercury got out to a quick start making a 14-2 run in the opening quarter, 29-13.

Atlanta was cold, missing their first 14 shots and went 24-of-37 by the half. Phoenix took a 51-37 lead into the break.

Phoenix scored 9 straight points to open the 3rd, 78-55 and Atlanta didn’t gain any ground the rest of the game.

Iziane Castro Marques led the Dream to their 3rd win of the season over the Indiana Fever Wednesday night, with 24 points.

“We pretty much played 40 minutes of great basketball, and it was a great team effort,” Castro Marques said. “We never thought we were going to lose this game.”

Atlanta lead the Fever by 10 points in the 3rd but the Fever came back to within 2, 63-61 with just over 5 minutes left in the 4th.

Back-to-back 3s from Betty Lennox put the Dream back in the lead, 73-71 with minutes left. Lennox also hit 2 free throws with just seconds on the clock to seal the win, 81-77.

“Being 0-17 is nothing to be happy about, but the thing I like most is that we persevered through it,” Lennox said. “Nobody even expected us to win one game and now we got three.”

“We just were not making shots,” said coach Meadors. “We had open looks and we just did not knock them down. We kept missing, kept missing, kept missing and they kept scoring and kept pushing us down.”

Atlanta started slow and never really got a grove going. They shot only 15% from the field during the first quarter making only 3-out-of-20 shots to end the period 21-6, Chicago.

In the 2nd period, Chicago pushed a 13-2 run including 10 points from Candice Dupree to advance their lead to 44-17 at the half.

The Sky made a 6-0 run late in the 3rd, gaining a 26 point lead, 62-36 going into the 4th.

Atlanta finally kicked it into gear outscoring the Sky 30-17 during the 4th quarter but ti was a little to late for a win.

Jennifer Lacy and Betty Lennox scored 11 each and Kristine Haynie added 9.

Betty Lennox led the Dream with 24 points with 17 of those in the second half. Ivory Latta and Jennifer Lacy added 11 each. This is their second win all season.

“We lost enough games for a lifetime,” Lacy said. “We’re just resilient. We keep fighting and we find a way to come back. We make scrappy plays, we somehow find baskets. That’s been a character of our team the whole season, it’s just that now we’re finding a way to pull out those W’s.”

Minnesota came out in the first quarter to lead 19-6. Atlanta shot only 16.7%.

“We just looked at each other and we’re like ‘not again,’ and we kept fighting and fighting and pushing and pushing and getting stops,” Lacy said.

At half time, Minnesota had a 38-26 lead over the Dream.

In the second half the Dream played big.

Minnesota went on a 15-4 run in the 3rd but by the end of the of the quarter Atlanta had come within 5, 54-49.

Down by 6 points with just over 3 minutes left, the Dream rallied a 13-1 run, shooting 71%, for the win. Jennifer Lacy hit a 3 and Tamara Young made a layup off a long pass from Kristine Haynie. Haynie then scored on a drive with 35 seconds left in regulation to gain a lead of 71-67.

With just 24 seconds Allison Bales, a new acquisition from Indiana last week, blocked a shot by Nicole Ohlde. Bales also had 11 rebounds.

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.”