Allisha Gray and Tina Charles power the Atlanta Dream past the LA Sparks

Allisha Gray scored 25 points and Tina Charles added 16 points while having lively performances. The Atlanta Dream went on to beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 87-74, Sunday afternoon in College Park.

Rhyne Howard pitched in with 16 points and five assists for Atlanta. Aerial Powers added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench.

The Dream’s ability to get downhill and get Sparks rookie, Cameron Brink, into foul trouble was key to victory.

“We always want to be able to get two feet in the paint,” Dream Head Coach Tanisha Wright said. “That’s our goal. Then to be able to find the find the right read and find the open person. I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight: getting downhill and continuing to trust it even when shots weren’t falling.”

Star rookies Brink and Rickea Jackson each scored 16 points for Los Angeles. At times, Jackson was a bucket for the Sparks. Also, former Atlanta Dream draft pick, Aari McDonald, scored 14 points off the bench in nearly 31 minutes for LA.

Paying it Forward

Notably, Tina Charles explained why she talked to Brink in the first matchup in California. She recently encouraged Angel Reese during their game in Chicago. Charles, a 12 year vet, says it’s about paying it forward. Charles mentioned Sylvia Fowles, Nakia Sanford, and Chasity Melvin were those voices for her when she was a young player.

“But that’s just who I am,” Charles said. “I’m very personable. I’ll talk to you one on one, tell you the things that you should be doing better. One time in the game, Cameron, had me, but she floated out. And I said to her on the next dead ball, ‘hold your seal, you know, get a defensive three seconds. Make them throw it to you.’ Those are things that Asia [Jones] would tell me to do. So just trying to pay it forward.”

Wright preaches patience

Coach Wright addressed the idea that the young players are supposed to enter the W ready-made. However, she emphasized it’s acceptable to allow the players to develop. Wright says she probably wasn’t fully ready until her fifth year in the W. Therefore, patience is indeed a virtue. As for Atlanta’s Olympian, Rhyne Howard, Wright says she enjoys watching her growth. She described it as ‘something really special.’

“So it just takes time for all these young kids and all these rookies, they need grace to be able to continue to develop and grow into who they’re going to be,” Wright explained. “Who they are today is not who they’re going to be three or four years from now. Three or four years from now, you’re going to see amazing young athletes that are breaking records and doing amazing things here in the WNBA, on top of what they’re already able to do. So giving them some time and giving them some grace, I think, is really important.”

What’s Next?

Atlanta will face the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday night. They will host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever Friday night at State Farm Arena.