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09/05 20:52 CDT McCoughtry leads Dream past Liberty
McCoughtry leads Dream past Liberty
By VIN A. CHERWOO AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Angel McCoughtry scored 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Atlanta Dream to an 81-75 victory over the New York Liberty in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday night. Sancho Lyttle had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Erika DeSouza added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Dream, who scored the final seven points of the game over the last 45 seconds. Cappie Pondexter scored eight of her 24 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes, and her two free throws put the Liberty ahead 75-74 with under 55 seconds remaining, but they didn't score again. Plenette Pierson had 18 points, and Nicole Powell added 15 for New York. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Atlanta, with Game 3, if necessary, back at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. The winner will advance to the WNBA finals against Seattle, which beat Phoenix 91-88 earlier Sunday to complete a sweep in the West finals. With the Dream leading by one, Iziane Castro Marques missed both shots from the line with 1:03 to go, Pondexter corralled the rebound with several players grabbing for it. On the other end, Castro Marques was called for a defensive foul on Pondexter's drive, and Pondexter made both shots to put the Liberty ahead 75-74 with under 55 seconds to go. McCoughtry, who scored 12 straight points for the Dream, then made two from the line to put Atlanta back ahead by one with 44.2 seconds left. Castro Marques' fastbreak layup made it 78-75 about 13 seconds later. McCoughtry made 1 of 2 from the line with 25.2 seconds left, Lyttle rebounded her miss on the second shot, was fouled and made both free throws to seal the win. The Dream used a 15-4 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to rally for a 60-57 lead on Castro Marques' layup in the opening minute of the final period. Powell's third 3 of the game pulled the Liberty to 64-63 with 7:45 to go. McCoughtry then made four free throws in a 45-second span to increase Atlanta's lead to five. Pondexter's three-point play with 3:11 to go cut New York's deficit to one again, 72-71. Powell hit a 3 in the final minute of the second quarter to start an 11-0 run, capped by a 3 from Leilani Mitchell that gave the Liberty a 47-44 lead with 8:12 to go in the third. Pierson hit a 3 and then had a layup to push the lead to 52-45 about 1:15 later. Lyttle scored six points as the Dream came back slowly the rest of the quarter, outscoring New York 11-4 and tying the score at 56-all on her layup with 1:12 to go in the third.
