Elena Delle Donne had 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and the Washington Mystics scored the last seven points of the game from the foul line to beat the Atlanta Dream 78-72 on Sunday after blowing an 18-point second-half lead.
Following a Washington turnover at midcourt after a timeout, Atlanta took its only lead at 72-71 on Layshia Clarendon’s feed to Sancho Lyttle with 43.7 seconds left. Delle Donne answered with a ball fake on Lyttle that lead to three free throws with 34.5 seconds to go. Delle Donne grabbed a defense rebound and added two more free throws to make it 76-71 with 11.9 to play. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough closed it out from the line with 4.1 left.
Washington (5-2) won its fourth straight to take the Eastern Conference lead. The Mystics shot 57 percent, to take a 41-32 lead at the half.
The Mystics pushed the lead to 18 in the third quarter. The Dream (4-2) rallied behind Tiffany Hayes, who had 24 points.
Washington was 1 of 15 on 3-pointers.
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