Dream beat Fever, snap 5-game skid
ATLANTA (AP) — Tiffany Hayes scored a season-high 28 points, Renee Montgomery added 16 points and nine assists, and the Atlanta Dream pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Indiana Fever 88-78 on Wednesday to snap a five-game skid. Hayes was 9 of 15 from the field and hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Elizabeth Williams added 10 points and three blocks for the Dream (2-5). Monique Billings made two free throws to give Atlanta the lead for good at 58-57, Montgomery added a 3-pointer and, after Candice Dupree hit a short jumper for Indiana, Montgomery sank a layup that made it 63-59 going into the fourth quarter. Montgomery scored or assisted on 15 of the Dream’s 25 fourth-quarter points, helping them build an 11-point lead when she kicked the ball out to Hayes for a long 3 with 3:33 to play. Dupree led the Fever (4-5) with 19 points. She hit a jumper late in the first quarter that moved her past Sue Bird into seventh on the WNBA’s career scoring list and now has 6,168 career points. Teaira McCowan, the No. 3 overall pick in the March draft, added 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks — all season highs — for Indiana. The Fever have lost four of their last five games. Atlanta, which came in averaging more than 16 turnovers per game, committed just six and hit a season-high 10 3-pointers on 22 attempts.