Sykes pours in 19, Dream knock off Liberty

Rookie Brittney Sykes scored a career-high 19 points and the Atlanta Dream held off the visiting New York Liberty in an 81-72 win on Sunday at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

Atlanta led by double digits for much of the game and answered a Liberty run in the fourth quarter with a traditional three-point play from Sykes. The rookie from Syracuse added nine rebounds in her second straight strong performance since being inserted into the starting lineup by Dream coach Michael Cooper.

Point guard Layshia Clarendon had 15 points and nine assists for the Dream (6-7), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Tina Charles finished with 21 points and Sugar Rodgers scored all 11 of her points in the fourth quarter for the Liberty (7-7), who have lost four of five and are in the middle of one of their most difficult stretches of the schedule.

Rodgers knocked down three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to trim the Atlanta lead to 68-60 with just over seven minutes to go in the game.

The margin was down to six (73-67) after two free throws by Charles with 2:30 to play. But Clarendon found a cutting Elizabeth Williams on a late pick-and-roll that led to a key basket for the Dream, and Sykes hit a jumper with 32.9 seconds to play to seal the win.

The Dream got off to a hot start and led 27-15 after the first quarter. Atlanta’s lead grew to 20 in the second quarter after Sancho Lyttle buried an 18-foot jumper.

The Dream led 47-31 at halftime. Sykes led all scorers with 12 points in the first half.

New York heads west to continue its four-game road trip and will face Seattle on Thursday. The Dream hit the road to take on the Dallas Wings on Wednesday.