Holdsclaw rallies Dream past Liberty, 89-83

Chamique Holdsclaw scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half as the Atlanta Dream spoiled Anne Donovans debut as New York's interim coach with an 89-83 victory over the Liberty on Saturday night.

Angel McCoughtry and Iziane Castro Marques had 16 points each to help the Dream (10-10) win their franchise-record third straight. McCoughtry also had seven steals.

Shameka Christon scored 23 points for the Liberty (6-12), who lost their season-high fourth straight one day after firing Pat Coyle as coach. Janel McCarville and Loree Moore had 14 points each and Essence Carson added 12.

New York led 54-47 midway through the third quarter. Atlanta then went on a 27-10 run fueled by steal after steal to go up 74-64 early in the fourth. The Liberty got no closer than four the rest of the way.

The second-year Dream, who totaled only four wins in their inaugural season, beat the Liberty for the first time after losing the teams' first six meetings — including three this season.

New York made the coaching change Friday after falling into last place in the Eastern Conference a year after coming within a two-point loss of reaching the WNBA finals. Coyle had an 81-90 record as Liberty coach, but made the postseason four times in five years and reached the East finals twice.

Donovan won two Olympic gold medals as a player and coached the U.S. to the gold medal at Beijing last year. She was 138-128 previously while coaching Indiana, Charlotte and Seattle, and led the Storm to the league championship in 2004.

Carson, Christon and Moore had seven points each in the first half to help New York to a 40-39 lead at the break. Castro Marques had eight points to lead Atlanta.