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.”

The first period was sloppy for Atlanta. They shot 1-for-17 from the field and committed 8 turnovers, allowing Houston to jump to a 15-2 lead.

The 3 quarter was the highlight of the game for Atlanta when they made a 7 point run led by Kristin Haynie’s 3-pointer and a layup by Katie Feenstra to cut the Houston’s lead to 51-45.

“I was proud of the way the bench stepped up and was happy to give them an opportunity because they have been working so hard,” coach Meadors said.

In the fourth, the Dream rallied with a steal and layup from Ivory Latta. Then hit 3 free throws to cut the lead to within 3, 68-65. But Houston’s Shannon Johnson hit a short jumper and made 2 free throws to put the game away.

Betty Lennox led the Dream with 15 points.

Atlanta became the first team in the WNBA to hit the midpoint of the season without a win.