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Dream-Mystics Preview

Jul 21, 2010 - 8:46 PM By SAMANTHA PANITCH STATS Writer

Atlanta (14-8) at Washington (12-7), 11:30 a.m. EDT

The Atlanta Dream are struggling on the road, and they will almost certainly need to improve if they want to come out on top in a hotly contested Eastern Conference race.

The Dream look to snap a four-game road losing streak when they face the Washington Mystics on Wednesday.

Atlanta (14-8) has lost four of six during its worst stretch of the season, the last three defeats coming away from Philips Arena. The Dream won six of their first eight road games, but the recent problems away from home have left them in a virtual tie for first place in the tightly packed East.

Atlanta remained winless on the road since June 15 with a 96-80 defeat to Connecticut on Saturday.

Angel McCoughtry scored 27 points to lead Atlanta, which dropped percentage points behind Indiana for first place in the Eastern Conference. Sancho Lyttle added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

McCoughtry, third in the WNBA with 21.2 points per game, has averaged 27.8 in her last four games.

"We need to watch film and see what we did wrong and correct our mistakes," McCoughtry said. "The worst thing we can do is hang our heads. If we do that we are done."

Atlanta played for the second straight night and third time in four days, losing all three games.

"I don't want to use (playing on successive nights) as an excuse," coach Marynell Meadors said. "(But) sometimes when you're fatigued, you make bad decisions and I thought that we had some bad offensive shot selection that led to their points. We got down in that hole, it was hard to come back."

Meadors' team has had some time off before visiting the Mystics (12-7).

The Dream won the first meeting of the season 86-79 in overtime at the Verizon Center on June 5 to avoid a third consecutive loss. McCoughtry and Erika de Souza each had 23 points, with McCoughtry scoring 10 in the fourth quarter and OT.

Crystal Langhorne had 23 points for the Mystics and Lindsey Harding added 14.

Washington will be looking to avoid a season high-tying third loss in a row. The Mystics fell 61-59 to visiting Chicago on Sunday, snapping a five-game home winning streak that began after the loss to Atlanta.

Langhorne had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Marissa Coleman added 11 points, six boards and four steals. The Mystics, though, shot 35.1 percent from the field to the Sky's 44.4.

Washington has not lost two in a row at home this season.