State Farm Arena witnessed something rare on Saturday night. The Atlanta Dream dismantled the Indiana Fever 113-96, setting a new franchise scoring record in the process. Thirteen points above their previous best, five starters in double figures, and one milestone that rewrote WNBA history books. This wasn’t just a win, it was a statement.
A franchise-record night fueled by collective firepower
Rhyne Howard led all scorers with 24 points, but the real story was Atlanta’s collective dominance. Every single starter crossed the double-digit threshold, something you rarely see at this level. Naz Hillmon posted 19 points, Allisha Gray added 21, and Jordin Canada chipped in 12 points alongside a remarkable 12 assists. That kind of balanced output doesn’t happen by accident, it reflects a team that has genuinely figured out how to play together.
Canada’s court vision deserves special mention. Twelve dimes in a single game is the mark of a point guard operating at peak efficiency, and her ability to find cutters and shooters kept Indiana’s defense perpetually off-balance. Howard, meanwhile, was efficient when it mattered most : she shot just 3-for-10 in the first half, then turned ice-cold composure into clutch buckets when Atlanta needed them in the third quarter.
For context, here’s how Atlanta’s starters performed on the night :
| Player | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhyne Howard | 24 | — | — |
| Allisha Gray | 21 | — | — |
| Naz Hillmon | 19 | — | — |
| Angel Reese | 18 | 8 | — |
| Jordin Canada | 12 | — | 12 |
The Dream improved to 11-4 on the season, tying the Las Vegas Aces for the second-best record in the entire WNBA. Three consecutive wins, nine victories in their last twelve outings, Atlanta is no longer a dark horse. They are a genuine title contender, and Saturday’s performance made that undeniable.
Angel Reese reaches 1,000 career rebounds faster than anyone in WNBA history
The most significant moment of the evening had nothing to do with the scoreboard. When Angel Reese grabbed her sixth rebound of the game, she crossed 1,000 career boards in just 76 games, shattering the previous mark held by Tina Charles, who needed 89 games to reach the same milestone. That’s 13 fewer games, a margin that underlines just how dominant Reese has been as a rebounder since her very first professional season.
Reese finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds on the night. She shot 3-for-8 from the field in the first half, yet her physical presence and relentless pursuit of loose balls shaped Atlanta’s interior game throughout. The milestone speaks to consistency : you don’t reach 1,000 rebounds in record time with flashy games alone, you do it by grinding every single possession.
Frankly, this puts Reese in a category of her own among young WNBA players. The record she broke belonged to one of the league’s all-time greats, and she did it before most players have truly found their professional footing. That’s not hype, that’s historical fact.
How Atlanta took control and Indiana unraveled
The first half told a deceptive story. Indiana shot 61% from the field and 60% on three-pointers, yet only held a 59-56 lead at halftime. Caitlin Clark scored 15 of her 26 points in those first 20 minutes, while Kelsey Mitchell drained two threes to fuel a Fever run that pushed the lead to 11 points midway through the second quarter. Atlanta trimmed it to three by the break, shooting 45% overall but connecting on half their three-point attempts.
The third quarter changed everything. The Dream went on a 13-0 run that flipped a five-point Indiana advantage into an eight-point Atlanta lead. Reese scored six points during that sequence, and Howard punctuated it with a three-pointer that gave Atlanta a 73-65 cushion. Indiana briefly responded with free throws from Alliyah Boston and a Clark layup, but Atlanta kept answering. The Dream outscored the Fever 28-15 in the third quarter alone and took an 84-74 lead into the final period.
The fourth quarter was pure damage limitation for Indiana. Down by as many as 13 points, the Fever had no defensive answer for Atlanta’s spacing and movement. Clark finished with 26 points and 7 assists, but also committed 7 turnovers, a damaging ratio that undermined her individual brilliance. Boston added 13 points and 9 rebounds, Mitchell contributed 16, and Sophie Cunningham also scored 13, but collective effort wasn’t enough to overcome Atlanta’s third-quarter explosion.
This was the second leg of a home-and-home series. Atlanta had already beaten Indiana 108-101 on Thursday, so the Dream completed a clean sweep in 72 hours. The Fever, who had won four straight before these two losses, dropped to 9-7 and sit seventh in the current playoff seedings. Their next challenge : two home games against the Phoenix Mercury, scheduled for Monday and Wednesday. Atlanta, meanwhile, hosts the Toronto Tempo on Monday, carrying serious momentum and a franchise-record performance in their back pocket.
