ATLANTA — Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points, Erika DeSouza had 20 and the Atlanta Dream pulled away late to beat the Seattle Storm 77-61 Tuesday night.
Sancho Lyttle added 13 points and Armintie Price had 10 for the Dream (17-14), who have won five of their last six.
Lauren Jackson had 14 points and nine rebounds and Camille Little added 13 points and eight boards for the Storm (13-15), who have already secured their WNBA-record ninth consecutive playoff berth.
Seattle pulled to 55-54 on a 3-pointer by Sue Bird early in the fourth quarter. However, Atlanta went on a 13-0 run to regain control and finished with a 22-7 spurt.
The Dream were swept by the Storm in three games in the WNBA Finals in 2010, but have won the four regular-season meetings since.
Trailing by 16 points early in the second half, Seattle went on a 19-6 run to pull to 49-46 on a three-point play by Jackson with 2:13 left in the third quarter. The Storm trailed 53-49 going into the final period as Jackson had 10 points in the period and Little scored nine.
McCoughtry, who didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter, was 6 for 6 from the floor and had 14 points in the second quarter as Atlanta took a 37-25 halftime lead.
McCoughtry scored all but two points during a 16-6 run that gave the Dream a 37-21 lead late in the quarter. DeSouza had eight of her 10 first-half points in the first quarter.
Seattle, which had shot 60 and 58 percent in consecutive weekend victories over Tulsa, made just four of its first 14 shots — missing four 3-pointers — and trailed 19-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Storm, who have six games remaining, play at Indiana on Wednesday night and then conclude their four-game road trip at San Antonio on Friday. Atlanta is at Washington on Friday in the first of three road games to end the regular season.
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