College Park, Ga. — Tina Charles tied for second all-time in the WNBA while recording 12 points and 17 rebounds, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 72-63 on Wednesday night.
Alisha Gray had 21 points and Ryne Howard 19 to lead the Dream (10-17), who won a season-best third straight after entering the Olympic break on an eight-game losing streak.
Charles, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft out of UConn, opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key in the fourth quarter to pass Tina Thompson’s 7,488 points. Charles’ 7,491 points are 3,000 behind Diana Taurasi (10,500), who hit a 3-pointer late in the game.
Charles’ basket broke a 48-48 tie and started a 17-2 run that broke the game open. Reserve Maya Caldwell scored all six of her points following Charles’ 3.
Gray made a jumper and two free throws to make it 65-50 with 5:26 left. In their win over the Suns on Sunday, the Dream opened the fourth quarter on a 19-2 run.
Charles now has 184 career double-doubles, 10 away from Sylvia Foles in league history. It was her 38th career game with 15 rebounds, second most in WNBA history behind Foles (43).
Kahlia Copper led the Mercury (15-14) with 22 points and Brittney Griner had 14 points. The Mercury went 47-33 on a 16-3 offensive end.
Atlanta outshot Phoenix 19-6 on 2-of-15 shooting with five turnovers in the first quarter.
The Dream went cold in the second quarter, missing their first 11 shots. Back-to-back baskets by Copper gave Phoenix a 25-24 lead. Gray then hit a pair of 3s and Howard helped the Dream take a 34-26 halftime lead.
Atlanta’s streak came against Seattle, Connecticut and the Mercury, all teams with winning records and playoff position. Atlanta is now one game back from the final playoff spot and hosts Phoenix again on Friday.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
