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McCoughtry leads Dream to 94-82 win over Sun

Jul 31, 2010 - 3:43 AM UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) -- Angel McCoughtry scored 20 points and the Atlanta Dream used a 25-0 run bridging halftime to beat the Connecticut Sun 94-62 Friday night.

Iziane Castro Marques had 17 points and Erika DeSouza added 13 points and 13 rebounds to help the Dream (17-9) hand the Sun the worst home loss in franchise history. Atlanta also moved percentage points behind first-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference.

"I think it was just one of those nights," Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. "You don't beat a team like Connecticut like that. It never happens. It never happens in Connecticut. ... We came in thinking it was going to be a battle and it would come down to whoever had the ball at the end of the game to win it."

Asjha Jones scored 16 points, DeMya Walker had 13 and Sandrine Gruda added 12 for Connecticut (13-11), which dropped into a fourth-place tie with New York. The Sun's previous low-mark at home was a 75-46 loss to Indiana on May 27, 2008.

"I can't remember coaching a team like this in a long time," Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. "Somebody had a saying one day, 'Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield.' We were the bug today."

Kelly Miller's 3-pointer capped a 13-0 run to end the first half that gave Atlanta a 53-36 lead at the break. The Dream then scored first 12 points of the third quarter, taking a 29-point lead on Sancho Lyttle's jumper with 6:17 left in the period.

"Izzy made a lot of tough shots in that run," McCoughtry said. "(Miller's) 3-pointer to end the half gave us the momentum heading into halftime. Then we came out in the third and kept pushing it."

The Sun went scoreless for the final 2:55 of the second quarter and the first 3:56 of the third, with Gruda's layup ending the drought.

Castro Marques' layup stretched the Dream's lead to 83-42 with 1:41 left in the third quarter, and they matched the 39-point advantage several times.

"They were good and we were equally as bad," Thibault said. "They made the hard ones, we gave them easy ones. I don't know how we can lead the league in fewest turnovers and give up 23 turnovers. We did it every way possible."

The Dream led 34-20 early in the second period before Connecticut's 16-6 run cut the lead to 40-36. But Atlanta forced three turnovers in the final 2:26 of the half to fuel its run.