• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Dream-Silver Stars Preview

Aug 5, 2009 - 6:10 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Atlanta (10-10) at San Antonio (9-10), 8:00 p.m. EDT

Atlanta Dream coach Marynell Meadors thinks her team is starting to mature, and top draft pick Angel McCoughtry is perhaps the best evidence of that growth.

McCoughtry will try to continue her strong recent play and help Atlanta add to its franchise-record win streak Thursday night when it visits the San Antonio Silver Stars.

After enduring a woeful 4-30 inaugural season and inconsistent play this year, the Dream (10-10) have seemed to finally hit their stride with three straight victories. Atlanta has also split its last four away from home after dropping five of its first six on the road.

McCoughtry's emergence as a consistent threat off the bench has proved one of the biggest reasons for the Dream's turnaround. After averaging 8.8 points through her first 17 games, the No. 1 overall selection from Louisville has averaged 17.7 on 54.2 percent shooting during the win streak.

"She's coming into her own," Meadors said. "She's still learning the pro game."

The league's reigning rookie of the month opened August with a team-record seven steals and 16 points in Saturday's 89-83 comeback win over visiting New York. The Dream forced 26 turnovers and used a 27-10 run to erase a seven-point deficit in the third quarter.

"We fought and clawed," Meadors said. "We turned up the pressure and played like we wanted to the whole game. ... The maturity of this team is starting to show."

The Dream are in the middle of a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference and will face a Silver Stars team that's in the mix in the West.

The Silver Stars (9-10) hold a two-game lead on fifth-place Los Angeles after defeating the Sparks 63-59 on the road Tuesday night.

After Ruth Riley hit a tiebreaking layup with 46.6 seconds left, Becky Hammon made four free throws in the final 13.7 to finish with 20 points.

"Defensively, there weren't any key breakdowns late," coach Dan Hughes said. "We were staying with plays and battling in the right spots. We made them shoot over the top and then rebounded enough that we could control tempo."

Hammon, the league's leading scorer (20.9 points), is looking to score 20 or more for a season-high fifth straight game. She averaged 25.5 points on 51.7 percent shooting in last season's two victories over the Dream, and fellow All-Star Sophia Young averaged 20.5 on 50.0 percent shooting.

These teams meet again Aug. 20 in Atlanta.