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.”

Betty Lennox, the only player to start every game for the Dream, led the way with a season high-tying 29 points and 11 rebounds. Ivory Latta added 21 points and Tamera Young grabbed 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which allowed 22 points on 21 turnovers.

had a season-high 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Houston Comets to an 88-79 win over the winless Atlanta Dream on Monday night.

Michelle Snow had her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Tina Thompson added 12 points and a season-high seven assists as the Comets (3-7) improved to 3-1 at home and won-back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The Comets broke open a close game early in the second quarter when Thompson and Snow teamed up to score seven points in a 9-4 run.

Atlanta then hit three 3-pointers in the next 3 minutes in an 11-5 run to get back within five with 3:52 left in the half.

But Houston, which made 47 percent (17-of-36) of its shots in the first 20 minutes, scored four points in the final 18 seconds to take a 45-35 lead into the break.

Five quick points to start the third quarter gave the Comets their biggest lead of the game, 50-35. However, the Dream outworked Houston pull to 65-64 with 58 seconds left in the third.

Lennox and Latta combined to make 10 straight free throws during a 10-0 run, but the Comets got layups by Ajavon and Mistie Williams in the final 38 seconds to take a 69-64 lead going into the final period.

“Of course we didn’t want to become the first team to lose to them,” Tan White said after she scored a season-high 21 points and led the Indiana Fever to a 76-67 win over the Dream on Friday night.

Atlanta is 0-9, the third-longest winless streak to open a WNBA season. The Houston Comets lost their first 10 games in 2007, and the Detroit Shock started 0-13 in 2002.

“We don’t even look at the record,” Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors said. “We look at the next opponent. We’re just trying to find the right chemistry, and I think I’ve found a pretty good lineup the last two games.”

Atlanta led by 12 points in the fourth quarter of an 81-77 loss to New York on Wednesday night before giving the Fever a late challenge on Friday.

“We’re seven and nine points away from a win and somehow we have to figure out a way to do that,” Meadors said.

White scored 11 points in the first half to reach double figures for a seventh straight game. Ebony Hoffman had 12 points, and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Indiana’s Katie Douglas third in the league in scoring at 20 points per game, had two in the first half and finished with 11. White took advantage of Atlanta’s extra defensive attention on Douglas.

“We were basically reading mismatches,” White said. “We knew we had smaller guards on us. When they doubled (Douglas), I was open on the other wing. They just did a great job of finding me and getting me the ball.”

The Fever expect to have five-time All-Star Tamika Catchings back for Sunday’s home game against the San Antonio Silver Stars. Catchings has been sidelined since tearing her right Achilles’ tendon in the playoffs last year.

Catchings has led Indiana in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in each of her six seasons, but White said the Fever should not expect that type of production immediately.

“We’re excited that she’s coming back, but we have to stick with how we’ve been playing,” White said. “She’ll be with us, but I’m not sure if she can come out and give us 20 or 30 minutes from the start. We can’t get out of what we’re doing. Hopefully after a few games or a couple of weeks she’ll be ready.”

Ivory Latta and Tamera Young each scored 14 points for Atlanta but combined to go 9-of-27 from the field. Latta tied her career high with six assists. Betty Lennox had 13 points.

A 3-pointer by White gave Indiana a 59-48 lead with 7:38 left, and a free throw by Douglas pushed the advantage to 15 before the Dream staged a late rally.

Atlanta’s Kristen Mann made a 3-pointer with 1:49 left, and Latta’s layup with 1:01 remaining pulled the Dream to 70-64 but that was as close as they would come.

The Dream’s 24 turnovers led to 21 points for Indiana.

Latta made buzzer-beating shots at the end of each of the first two periods, each requiring a video review by the officials. Latta’s turnaround jumper at the end of the first half cut Indiana’s lead to 32-29.

Young, a rookie, had career highs in points, assists (four), steals (four) and blocked shots (two).

The Dream failed to hold a 12-point lead, coming on Tamera Young’s layup with 7:09 remaining.

New York ended a two-game losing streak on the road. Including two playoff losses at Detroit last year, the Liberty had dropped nine of their past 10 away from Madison Square Garden.

McCarville twice flustered Ann Strother into making poor inbounds passes in the final 13.9 seconds. The second time, with McCarville jumping and waving her arms in front of Strother, New York’s Shameka Christon stepped in front of Young for the steal.

Betty Lennox scored 28 points to lead Atlanta, which dropped to 0-5 at home, 0-8 overall.

McCarville’s basket with 38.8 seconds left ended a 20-12 run for the Liberty.

New York also had Shameka Christon and Cathrine Kraayeveld combine for 29 points and 14 rebounds.

Young and Ivory Latta each scored 13 points for Atlanta.

Tamera Young, 6-2, guard from James Madison
College Career Averages: 16.7 ppg, 2.4 apg, 8.9 rpg

Second Round – 24th Pick

Morenike Atunrase, 5-10, forward, from Texas A & M
College Career Averages: 11.3 ppg, 1.8 apg, 4.3 rpg

Third Round – 32nd Pick

Danielle Hood, 6-1, forward, from Hartford
College Career Averages: 13.1 ppg, 1.3 apg, 4.4 rpg