Liberty beat Dream to remain in hunt for a playoff spot

ATLANTA (AP) — Crystal Dangerfield scored a season-high 18 points, Betnijah Laney added 17 points and the New York Liberty held off the Atlanta Dream 80-70. New York (15-20) entered the game in a four-way tie with Minnesota, Atlanta and Phoenix — all battling for the final two playoff spots. The Lynx and Mercury each play a game later Friday night, and the Liberty host the Dream (14-21) on Sunday to close the regular season. New York led by as many as 22 points, but Atlanta scored nine of the opening 10 points of the fourth quarter to get within 71-60. Erica Wheeler and Aari McDonald each made a fast-break layup on consecutive possessions to cap a 14-4 run to make it 74-67 with 6:15 left. But Atlanta did not make another field goal the rest of the way.