Rhyne Howard drops 24 points as Dream seal playoff spot with win over Wings

Rhyne Howard powered the Atlanta Dream into the postseason on Friday night, scoring 24 points with a career-best six blocks in a 100-78 victory over the Dallas Wings in College Park, Georgia. Motivated after criticising local fans for chanting 'MVP' for A’ja Wilson earlier in the week, Howard responded with an all-around performance, adding five assists and four rebounds while knocking down 6 of 11 attempts from beyond the arc. She had gone just 2-for-10 from deep in her previous outing.


Allisha Gray chipped in 19 points, and Brionna Jones added 16 as Atlanta improved to 25-14 and secured its playoff berth. The Dream endured a scare in the second quarter when Gray - who recently set the franchise’s single-season scoring record - took an inadvertent knee to the face from Diamond Miller while defending at the rim. Gray eventually returned to the game.


Dallas, now 9-31, welcomed back rookie star Paige Bueckers after an illness sidelined her Wednesday, and she notched her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists. The Wings started strong, even building a five-point lead in the second quarter, but Atlanta countered with a 13-0 run to seize control.


Maddy Siegrist paced Dallas with 23 points, sinking three of the team’s five three-pointers. The Wings cut the deficit to four in the third quarter, but Atlanta stormed out in the fourth with 10 straight points, stretching its advantage to 15 and putting the game out of reach.

The loss marked Dallas’ seventh straight defeat, while the Dream celebrated both a dominant win and a return to the WNBA playoffs.