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McCoughtry leads Dream over Mercury

May 29, 2010 - 4:50 AM PHOENIX(AP) -- Angel McCoughtry scored 28 points and the Atlanta Dream withstood a 16-0 run by the Phoenix Mercury in the waning minutes to win its franchise-best fifth straight to open the season, 96-93 on Friday night.

Diana Taurasi had 30 points but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

She hit two free throws with 40 seconds left to cut what was a 17-point deficit with 4:41 left to 92-91. McCoughtry then missed a 14-footer but Taurasi missed a 17-footer with 7.9 seconds remaining. Atlanta made all four of its free throws in the final seconds.

Sancho Lyttle had 20 points and 17 rebounds for Atlanta, which set a franchise mark for points in a half in taking a 65-46 lead.

Erika De Souza had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Dream.

Penny Taylor had 18 points and seven assists for Phoenix, which never led and trailed by double digits most of the game until the first minute of the final quarter.

The Mercury held Atlanta to 5-of-30 shooting in the third quarter and after Taurasi's three-point play they cut the lead to 78-71 with 9:35 left. But McCoughtry hit a 3-pointer, followed by two free throws and the Dream built a 92-75 lead with McCoughtry scoring nine of the next 14 Atlanta points.

Atlanta outrebounded the Mercury 51-42, scoring 44 points inside. The Dream hit 27 of 48 shots in the first half as Phoenix allowed the most first-half points in franchise history. The Dream was just 9 of 48 from the field in the second half.

McCoughtry, who is leading the league in scoring at 21 points a game, and Lyttle combined for eight straight to give Atlanta a 25-14 lead with 3:04 left in the first quarter. Phoenix got within 46-40 in the second quarter but the Dream ran off 11 straight points to open a 61-42 lead with 1:50 left in the first half.