Rhyne Howard had 4 fouls before halftime Monday night and still set a WNBA Finals record with 6 steals, as the Atlanta Dream took Game 2 from the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 in San Francisco and tied the series 1-1.
Howard went 2-of-7 from the field, made 1 of her 5 3-point attempts, and scored 5 points in 27:28. She added 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block.
Her first foul came 2:06 into the game, and her second followed with 4:45 left in the first quarter. Twelve seconds into the second quarter, Howard was whistled for an away-from-the-play foul. Her fourth came with 4:14 left before halftime, and she played only 1:30 of that quarter.
Howard Still Made Her Mark Defensively
Twice in the first quarter, Howard took the ball from Golden State. The first came on a Kiah Stokes pass 36 seconds in, and the second came when Gabby Williams lost the ball at the 5:07 mark.
She picked off two more Williams passes in the first 57 seconds of the second half.
With 3:12 left in the third, Howard stripped Kaitlyn Chen, and DeWanna Bonner finished the run-out off an Angel Reese pass for a 47-44 lead.
Howard’s sixth steal came on a Tiffany Hayes turnover with 3:29 to play.
Bonner had 4 steals of her own, all after halftime. According to league game notes, Howard and Bonner are the second pair of teammates in Finals history to each record at least 4 steals in the same game, joining Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Nykesha Sales of the 2004 Connecticut Sun.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said Atlanta can create extra possessions when it does what it needs to do.
“Unfortunately, Rhyne got in a little foul trouble early and kind of limited her aggressiveness offensively,” Smesko said. “She was a little hesitant to get downhill for a minute. But boy, did she have an impact on the defensive side of the ball today. Deflection, steals, getting us out in transition, making good decisions with the ball. She came up huge for us, despite the foul trouble.”
Atlanta Turned Defense Into Offense
Atlanta finished with 14 steals. The Valkyries committed 19 turnovers, and the Dream converted them into 24 points while winning the fast-break column 19-0.
In the third quarter alone, Golden State gave it away 8 times. Atlanta scored 12 points off those turnovers and won the period 21-9.
Bonner’s first two steals of the fourth quarter came 17 seconds apart, on passes from Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini. The first one ended with Bonner at the free-throw line, where she made both for a 64-46 lead.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the Dream shifted into the driving lanes early and forced Golden State into extra passes.
“The hustle is the turnovers, because in order for you to get turnovers, they have to kind of outhustle you to create the turnovers, right,” Nakase said. “So they are trying to — obviously, cut off our driving lanes, be there in the gaps, right, making us make different decisions than we normally are used to. So just credit to them.”
Golden State had 8 steals, and Williams had 4 of them.
Howard Helped Atlanta Flip Game 2
Howard said after Game 1 that the Valkyries forced Atlanta into a game the Dream don’t play.
Golden State won that one 68-64 on Saturday after outscoring Atlanta 17-8 in the fourth quarter.
Monday’s two Howard baskets came in different halves. Her 3-pointer off a Jordin Canada pass with 6:27 left in the first quarter put Atlanta up 8-5, and her 18-foot step-back with 4:49 to play, set up by Reese, made it 71-52.
Atlanta hosts Game 3 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.