# 2009 Atlanta Dream season

The 2009 WNBA season was the 2nd season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Dream qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. However, they were eliminated by the Detroit Shock in a sweep in the first round.

## Transactions
### Houston Comets Dispersal Draft

With the Houston Comets ceasing operation and based on the 2008 records of teams, the Dream selected 1st in the Dispersal Draft.
| Pick | Player | Nationality | College | Previous Team |
| 1 | Sancho Lyttle | Spain | Houston | Houston Comets |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 1 | Angel McCoughtry | United States | Louisville |
| 2 | 25 | Shalee Lehning | United States | Kansas State |
| 3 | 27 | Jessica Morrow | United States | Baylor |

### Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Trade |
| December 8, 2008 | Traded a First Round Pick in the 2009 WNBA draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the rights to Chamique Holdsclaw |
| January 2, 2009 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Kasha Terry, Yelena Leuchanka, and Jennifer Lacy |
| January 12, 2009 | Signed Nikki Teasley |
| January 14, 2009 | Waived Ann Strother and Chioma Nnamaka |
| January 14, 2009 | Rescinded the Qualifying Offer to Kasha Terry |
| January 21, 2009 | Traded Alison Bales to the Phoenix Mercury for a Second Round Pick in the 2009 WNBA draft |
| February 3, 2009 | Waived Betty Lennox |
| February 4, 2009 | Waived Kasha Terry |
| February 11, 2009 | Signed Chantelle Anderson to a Training Camp Contract |
| February 17, 2009 | Signed Jennifer Lacy to a Training Camp Contract |
| February 18, 2009 | Signed Michelle Snow to a Training Camp Contract |
| April 8, 2009 | Waived Katie Mattera |
| April 9, 2009 | Traded a Second Round Pick in the 2009 WNBA draft to the Detroit Shock in exchange for Ashley Shields |
| April 13, 2009 | Waived Kristin Haynie |
| April 14, 2009 | Signed Angel McCoughtry, Shalee Lehning, and Jessica Morrow to Rookie Scale Contracts |
| April 20, 2009 | Signed Chamique Holdsclaw |
| April 28, 2009 | Waived Ashley Shields |
| May 11, 2009 | Waived Jessica Morrow |
| May 12, 2009 | Signed Marlies Gipson to a Training Camp Contract |
| May 15, 2009 | Signed Coco Miller |
| May 29, 2009 | Waived Marlies Gipson |
| May 31, 2009 | Waived Chantelle Anderson |
| June 3, 2009 | Waived Ivory Latta |
| July 3, 2009 | Waived Nikki Teasley |
| July 3, 2009 | Signed Ivory Latta |
| August 12, 2009 | Traded Tamera Young to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Armintie Price |

## Roster
### Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Érika de Souza | Michelle Snow |
| PF | Sancho Lyttle | Jennifer Lacy |
| SF | Chamique Holdsclaw | Angel McCoughtry |
| SG | Iziane Castro Marques | Armintie Price |
| PG | Shalee Lehning | Ivory Latta Coco Miller |

## Schedule

2009 Preseason Schedule :
Total: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 277:00pmConnecticut76-73de Souza, Holdsclaw (16)de Souza (9)Teasley (7)Philips Arena 4,9801-0 :

### Regular season

2009 Regular Season Total: 18–16 (Home: 12–5; Road: 6–11) :
June: 4–6 (Home: 3–3; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTimeOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1June 67:00pmIndiana87-86 (2OT)Holdsclaw (23)de Souza (17)Holdsclaw, Teasley (4)Philips Arena 8,7091-0
2June 74:00pm@ Washington71-77Miller (17)de Souza (6)Lehning (4)Verizon Center 11,7591-1
3June 128:30pm@ ChicagoCN100 NBA TV73-81Castro Marques (20)de Souza (8)Miller (4)UIC Pavilion 5,6891-2
4June 143:00pm@ Connecticut67-62Lyttle (20)Lyttle (16)Teasley (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,4292-2
5June 197:30pmWashington93-81Lyttle (20)Lyttle (13)Teasley (4)Philips Arena 6,0503-2
6June 213:00pmNew York81-93Holdsclaw (17)Lyttle (9)Teasley (5)Philips Arena 5,6243-3
7June 2312:00pmChicago98-99 (OT)McCoughtry (26)de Souza (7)McCoughtry (8)Philips Arena 10,3513-4
8June 267:30pmDetroit96-86Holdsclaw (28)de Souza (13)Teasley (11)Philips Arena 5,9354-4
9June 277:00pm@ Connecticut68-82Castro Marques (16)Snow (9)Lehning (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,2644-5
10June 307:00pmMinnesotaESPN285-91Castro Marques (31)de Souza (10)Lehning (4)Philips Arena 7,6864-6 :
July: 5–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTimeOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
11July 37:30pmWashington72-65Holdsclaw (18)Lacy, Snow (8)Holdsclaw (8)Philips Arena 5,4565-6
12July 56:00pm@ Indiana74-78Lyttle (18)de Souza (8)Lehning, McCoughtry (4)Conseco Fieldhouse 7,0245-7
13July 77:30pmConnecticut72-67Holdsclaw (19)de Souza (17)Lehning (7)Philips Arena 6,2256-7
14July 117:30pm@ New York69-71Castro Marques (18)Castro Marques, de Souza, Holdsclaw (8)Castro Marques (6)Madison Square Garden 8,7326-8
15July 151:00pm@ MinnesotaFSN-N91-77Holdsclaw (28)Lyttle (10)Lehning (5)Target Center 11,2457-8
16July 177:00pm@ Indiana79-84de Souza (23)de Souza (14)Castro Marques, Lehning (3)Conseco Fieldhouse 7,9757-9
17July 194:00pm@ New York86-89Holdsclaw (26)de Souza (10)de Souza (3)Madison Square Garden 8,5607-10
18July 2212:00pm@ Detroit98-95 (OT)Latta (22)Snow (12)Holdsclaw (4)Palace of Auburn Hills 14,4398-10
19July 307:30pmPhoenix106-76McCoughtry (17)de Souza (14)Lehning (5)Philips Arena 7,8279-10 :
August: 6–4 (Home: 5–2; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTimeOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
20August 17:00pmNew YorkNBA TV MSG89-83Holdsclaw (18)Holdsclaw, Lyttle (7)Latta, Lehning (3)Philips Arena 6,10310-10
21August 68:00pm@ San Antonio92-84Holdsclaw (21)Lyttle (10)Lehning (7)AT&T Center 5,04211-10
22August 87:00pmChicago80-82Latta (18)de Souza (15)Latta, Miller (3)Philips Arena 5,42411-11
23August 137:30pmDetroit80-75Castro Marques (16)de Souza (13)Lehning (5)Philips Arena 5,64112-11
24August 157:00pmSeattle88-79Lyttle (20)de Souza (12)Lehning (6)Philips Arena 8,75113-11
25August 207:30pmSan Antonio93-87McCoughtry (34)de Souza (11)Lehning (6)Philips Arena 5,84814-11
26August 233:00pmLos Angeles87-91Castro Marques (26)de Souza (9)Castro Marques, Lehning (4)Philips Arena 11,30414-12
27August 257:30pmSacramento103-83Castro Marques (30)Lyttle (9)Lehning (10)Philips Arena 5,15915-12
28August 277:30pm@ Detroit83-87Castro Marques (19)de Souza (13)McCoughtry (5)Palace of Auburn Hills 5,69515-13
29August 2910:00pm@ Seattle84-91 (2OT)McCoughtry (16)Lyttle (11)Lehning, McCoughtry (4)KeyArena 9,08915-14 :
September: 3–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–2)
GameDateTimeOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
30September 110:30pm@ Los Angeles84-79Castro Marques (27)de Souza, Lyttle (7)de Souza, Latta (3)STAPLES Center 8,75616-14
31September 410:00pm@ Sacramento98-90de Souza (27)de Souza (13)McCoughtry (10)ARCO Arena 6,51717-14
32September 510:00pm@ Phoenix82-100de Souza (23)Snow (7)Lehning (10)US Airways Center 10,42417-15
33September 117:00pmConnecticut88-64McCoughtry (18)de Souza (14)Lyttle (5)Philips Arena 8,64418-15
34September 127:00pm@ Washington64-82McCoughtry (19)McCoughtry (13)Castro Marques, de Souza (3)Verizon Center 11,98718-16 :
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess :

### Postseason

2009 Postseason Schedule :
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Detroit (Lost Series 0-2)
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1September 168:00pm@ DetroitESPN289-94Castro Marques (25)Lyttle (9)Castro Marques (7)Palace of Auburn Hills 6,1220-1
2September 187:30pmDetroitNBA TV79-94Latta (21)de Souza (7)McCoughtry, Latta, Price (3)Gwinnett Arena 4,7800-2 :

## Standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 14–3 | 8–9 | 17–5 |
| Atlanta Dream $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 11–11 |
| Washington Mystics $^x$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| Chicago Sky $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 10–12 |
| Connecticut Sun $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 9–12 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 13 | 21 | .382 | 9.0 | 8–9 | 5–12 | 8–13 |

## Playoffs

| Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 |
| E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 0 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 0 | E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Detroit | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Atlanta | 0 | E3 | Detroit | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Detroit | 2 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Detroit | 2 | | | | E1 | Indiana | 2 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W4 | San Antonio | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | San Antonio | 1 | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Seattle | 1 | W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | |
| W3 | Los Angeles | 2 | | | | | | |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Iziane Castro Marques | 34 | 33 | 26.9 | 41.3 | 34.5 | 78.0 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 14.4 |
| Chamique Holdsclaw | 25 | 25 | 28.3 | 41.4 | 20.0 | 83.9 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 13.9 |
| Sancho Lyttle | 34 | 31 | 27.4 | 50.7 | 0.0 | 74.3 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 13.0 |
| Angel McCoughtry | 34 | 10 | 21.6 | 47.6 | 29.4 | 74.1 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 12.8 |
| Erika de Souza | 34 | 34 | 27.3 | 52.8 | 0.0 | 65.3 | 9.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 11.8 |
| Ivory Latta | 24 | 0 | 14.6 | 40.9 | 36.0 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 6.1 |
| Michelle Snow | 34 | 2 | 14.8 | 47.9 | 0.0 | 76.1 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| Nikki Teasley | 10 | 10 | 23.4 | 40.0 | 41.2 | 80.0 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 3.9 |
| Coco Miller | 34 | 5 | 12.0 | 41.0 | 29.6 | 88.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3.9 |
| Shalee Lehning | 34 | 20 | 20.8 | 38.7 | 20.0 | 77.4 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 3.0 |
| Jennifer Lacy | 32 | 0 | 11.3 | 32.7 | 21.1 | 66.7 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| Tamera Young | 11 | 0 | 6.5 | 33.3 | 20.0 | 64.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| Armintie Price | 11 | 0 | 8.9 | 35.7 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Angel McCoughtry | 2 | 2 | 29.0 | 48.4 | 57.1 | 66.7 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 19.0 |
| Iziane Castro Marques | 2 | 2 | 25.5 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 70.6 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 16.0 |
| Ivory Latta | 2 | 2 | 37.5 | 40.0 | 33.3 | 88.9 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 13.5 |
| Erika de Souza | 2 | 2 | 27.0 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 11.5 |
| Sancho Lyttle | 2 | 2 | 25.5 | 41.2 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| Armintie Price | 2 | 0 | 15.5 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| Michelle Snow | 2 | 0 | 16.5 | 30.0 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.5 |
| Coco Miller | 2 | 0 | 6.5 | 60.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| Chamique Holdsclaw | 1 | 0 | 13.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Jennifer Lacy | 2 | 0 | 11.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Sancho Lyttle | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 17 |
| Sancho Lyttle | 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection | July 20 |
| Sancho Lyttle | All-Defensive Second Team | September 25 |
| Angel McCoughtry | All-Defensive Second Team | September 25 |
| Angel McCoughtry | WNBA Rookie of the Year | October 1 |
| Angel McCoughtry | WNBA All-Rookie Team | October 1 |
| Érika de Souza | 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection | July 20 |
| Marynell Meadors | WNBA Coach of the Year | October 1 |