Dream 85 Fever 78: You know you are in trouble when Tiffany Hayes is nailing the long-ball. The Dream overcame Fever in an exciting contest and once again, Fever lost momentum after beginning well in the first half. Fever jumped out to a five-point lead in the first quarter in one of the most well-balanced games in terms of shots distribution the team has played all season long. All the five starters punched home 12 or more points with Kelsey leading the charge but Tiffany Hayes, Candice Dupree, and Courtney Williams had other plans.
As stated in the Preview yesterday, Fever needed to contain the early offense by the Dream and the squad did so, heading into the third quarter with a four-point lead. However, in the third quarter, Dream ran some early shot-clock offense and Tiffany Hayes who hit some early threes opened up driving lanes for herself. Hayes completed some acrobatic finishes inside and kept launching from beyond the arc, ending up with a team-high 31 points. Both Aari McDonald and Courtney Williams kept pushing the ball up the floor and the Fever defense broke down once again in the third quarter, getting outscored 18-27 against some brilliant execution by Dream. For the Fever, Emma Cannon played one of the best games for her in the season, clinching 15 points and looked superb in the paint and from mid-range. However, Candice Dupree poured in 15 points off the bench for the Dream who put the game away after playing some superb defense in the second half.
Game Leaders:
- Points: Tiffany Hayes: 31
- Rebounds: Teaira McCowan: 14
- Assists: Aari McDonald: 6
