Hayes helps Dream beat Liberty in overtime

NEW YORK (AP) — Tiffany Hayes, playing in her first game of the season, scored nine of her 21 points in overtime to lift the Atlanta Dream to a 92-81 victory over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.

Hayes, who missed the first 19 games with a right knee injury, scored the first seven points in OT hitting a 3-pointer from each wing and then getting fouled shooting another 3. She made only one of those free throws to make it 86-79.

Natasha Howard finally got New York on the board in the extra session with a layup, but that only cut the deficit to 88-81 with just over 2 minutes left. Atlanta (9-11) wouldn't let the Liberty get any closer.

New York (8-11) led 79-76 with 7.5 seconds left when Erica Wheeler took the ball and dribbled the clock down before hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

The Liberty trailed 63-50 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 17 straight points to take its first lead since the first half. Dolson, who scored 14 points in the period, had the first seven during the burst to energize the large crowd that was at Barclays Center celebrating Pride Night.

Dolson finished with 20 points while Sabrina Ionescu had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Hayes missed the first 19 games of the season. Hayes briefly let the game early in the fourth quarter going down after a rebound and was escorted back to the locker room. She came back about 2 minutes later.

It also saw the return of AD Durr to New York. The Liberty traded Durr to Atlanta earlier this month. Durr missed the last two years while dealing with COVID complications. Durr scored five points.

New York led 18-13 after one before the Dream took a 41-36 lead at the half behind 10 points from