Pondexter leads Liberty over Dream

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Cappie Pondexter scored 26 points and Leilani Mitchell added 18 to help the New York Liberty to a 79-74 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night.

The victory was the second straight for the Liberty (2-5), who started off the WNBA season with five straight losses. Atlanta dropped to 2-4 after losing its second straight contest.

The Liberty took control of the game in the second part of the fourth quarter with Pondexter, who scored nine in the final quarter, making clutch shots throughout. Her driving goal with 8:29 left gave the Liberty the lead for good and her three-point play with 4:36 left pushed the lead to 70-66.

Angel McCoughtry had 21 points and 14 rebounds to pace Atlanta, while Aneika Henry had 14 and Sancho Lyttle 12 points for the Dream.

New York held Atlanta to just six points over the final 4:53 to secure the win.

The two teams traded leads over the first three quarter. Atlanta led 62-61 heading into the final period.

Pondexter hit a jumper in the lane after putting on a dribbling exhibition to give the Liberty a 63-62 advantage with 8:29 remaining and Mitchell made a long 3-pointer to push the lead to 66-62 with 5:56 left.

The Liberty lost their first five games before beating Indiana at home on Sunday to end the longest winless streak to start the season in franchise history.

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Pondexter leads Liberty over Dream