Angel Reese Details Decision That Helped Dream Close Out Game 2 Against Liberty

Angel Reese sealed Atlanta's overtime win over the New York Liberty from the free-throw line Wednesday night, making two with 4.3 seconds left. The Dream held on for a 101-98 victory at State Farm Arena and led the WNBA semifinals 2-0.

Reese finished with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in 39:06. She went 6-of-6 at the line. Five of her rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Six of Atlanta's 13 overtime points were hers. DeWanna Bonner found her cutting for a layup at 3:37 that made it 93-88. New York then scored eight in a row, and Naz Hillmon fed Reese for another layup with 44.3 seconds left to put the Dream back up 97-96.

Breanna Stewart's cutting layup gave New York a 98-97 lead at 33.8 seconds. Hillmon scored again 13 seconds later, and Atlanta never trailed after that. The Liberty won a jump ball with 11.7 seconds left before Sabrina Ionescu's pass sailed out of bounds at 6.5.

Atlanta still had to inbound it twice. Marine Fauthoux's fifth foul came at 6.1 seconds, and by the time she fouled Reese for her sixth, the clock read 4.3.

The Dream had talked about throwing the ball deep, Reese said, but there was too much time left for that.

"That's IQ and knowing the time," Reese said. "It would take them a couple seconds to chase me around the court, so I ran as fast as I could and took as much time off the clock as possible. We had talked about throwing the ball in the air, but there was too much time on the clock. We knew the situation and executed it."

Her free throws made it a 3-point game. New York's last shot, a 32-footer from Stewart, did not fall.

Reese was at the line late in regulation, too. She made both with 14.5 seconds left to put Atlanta up 88-85, and Fauthoux tied it from 25 feet.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Jonquel Jones was called for her fifth foul at 5:40. At 4:41, Reese missed a driving layup and a shooting foul was called on Jones. New York challenged, and the call was overturned. Reese and Jones then went up for a jump ball that Stewart came away with.

Reese picked up her fifth foul on a loose ball with 1:14 left in overtime and stayed on the floor.

She had nine points in the second quarter, when she made a 25-foot 3-pointer off a Bonner pass, scored on a fast-break layup after her own steal, and finished a putback plus a free throw. She went 0-of-3 in the third quarter.

Atlanta fed the hot hand in the third quarter, Reese said, and the defense picked up deflections and got out in transition. Isobel Borlase scored eight points in the quarter, including 3-pointers at 2:28 and 1:59 for a 75-67 lead.

"I think we did a great job making sure that we were all on the connected stream," Reese explained. "We really stayed together and played together, and that's how we won."

Jordin Canada also scored 23 points for Atlanta and had eight assists. Rhyne Howard added 18 points, Hillmon had 12, Borlase had 11 off the bench, and Bonner had 10.

Reese had 17 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks when Atlanta took Game 1 92-82 on Sunday.

The Dream acquired her from the Chicago Sky in an April trade. She was named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Oct. 1, the first Dream player to win the award. She set WNBA single-season records this year with 521 rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds.

Allisha Gray missed Wednesday's game with a left hand injury. Atlanta can reach its first WNBA Finals since 2013 with a win Friday night in Brooklyn.

Game 3 tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET.