Madina Okot and her Atlanta Dream side overcame a slow start to beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Sunday, 4 October, in Game 1 of the best-of-five Women's NBA semifinals series.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe win marked Atlanta's first victory in the semifinal round since 2018, and left it as the only undefeated team remaining in the post-season playoffs. The Dream are also on an eight-game winning streak dating back to the regular season.##NAJAVA_MECA_10002696##“I thought we had a great third quarter,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. “They made a run at us, but we were just able to make enough plays down the stretch to close them out.”In a match where the Kenyan ace was barely used, staying on the field for just two minutes and picking up as many rebounds, Smesko's charges were led by Jordin Canada, who scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half of Dreams' comeback, having trailed 40-37 heading to the halftime break.NBA defends decision to close sole Africa training academyDeWanna Bonner added 23 points and helped fill the void when Allisha Grey went down with a left hand injury in the second quarter.Atlanta once again played stellar defense, scoring 32 points off 21 forced turnovers, including 16 in a dominant third quarter. The 32 points off turnovers tied an all-time WNBA playoff record.##NAJAVA_MECA_9999945##“Everybody stepped up, and that's what we need,” Canada said. “Next man up mentality. I just tried to do what I do best. I tried to be aggressive, find my shots and take my shots with confidence.”“We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half,” Canada said. “We gave up a lot of defensive assignments, we weren’t playing up to our schemes, and we just weren’t being aggressive enough on the offensive end.”Kevin Wangaya cautions Kenya U23 teammates ahead of Tanzania clash
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