Madina Okot comes off the bench to impact Dreams' WNBA season opener
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 10.05.26. | 21:04
The Dream trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, but they clawed their way back in a spectacular second half showing, going on to stun Lynx on their home floor with a masterful 28-point fourth-quarter comeback
Rookie Madina Okot got her first taste of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) regular season, when her Atlanta Dream side opened their campaign with a clutch 91-90 victory against Minnesota Lynx at Target Center on Sunday morning.
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The Kenyan basketball star came off the bench, spending just ten minutes on the floor to score eight crucial points, adding four rebounds and a steal as the side came from behind to seal the win.
Okot’s league debut counted as her third in a Dream shirt, having featured in two pre-season games during their brief training camp, winning the first and losing the second.
Playing alongside WNBA sensation Angel Reese who has become a crucial mentor for the South Carolina Gamecocks alumnus, Okot might not have hit a double-double, but her eight points in such a short stay on the floor points to her immense potential.
It was also Reese's first game with the Atlanta Dream, having joined from Chicago on 6 April in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028.
The Dream trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, but they clawed their way back in a spectacular second half showing, going on to stun Lynx on their home floor with a masterful 28-point fourth-quarter comeback.
It was, however, Reese who slammed the door shut with a game-saving block on Lynx's Emese Hof's layup attempt to give the Dream the victory.
She finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals for her 50th career double-double in just 65 games, the fastest to reach the mark in WNBA history.
"It was rough for me tonight, but this is what you call a team," Reese said. "Being able to have players that have your back and always pick you up, even when you're not having the best game and always in your ear, putting a lot of confidence into you."
Guards Te-Hina Paopao and Allisha Gray made clutch plays down the stretch to keep Atlanta out in front.
Paopao sank a timely jumper, and Gray unleashed a furious block on rookie Olivia Miles to keep Minnesota from taking over.
"Angel's been practicing great, and she came up big at the biggest moments. She had that late layup and offensive rebound, and then, she had the block to win it," head coach Karl Smesko said postgame. "I do think at first she was just trying to feel her way around a little bit, maybe first game nerves with us, but then, just like she is, she's a total competitor."
Ahead of the game, Dream head coach Smesko had admitted Okot did not realize how good she is on the court, adding that it was only a matter of time before she got used to the speed of the WNBA.