New York Liberty Women — Atlanta Dream Women: 84:95, NBA Women

Atlanta Dream beat New York Liberty 95 to 84 in the Women's NBA on Tuesday night, a result that keeps the visitors top of the table while the hosts drop further behind in the chase.

The Dream were comfortable from the opening quarter, building a 13-point advantage that Liberty never really threatened to close. Fourteen points off turnovers told the story — Atlanta capitalised where New York could not.

Liberty had won three of their last five, including a comfortable 106:69 over Toronto on Sunday, but this was a different proposition. The back-to-back wins against Minnesota and Toronto ended here, and by then the signs were there.

Dream meanwhile were extending a run that had seen them beat Chicago 106:81 and Connecticut 103:59 in their two most recent outings. They switched to a more patient approach against New York, and it worked.

Shot efficiency mattered. Atlanta made 32 of 67 field goals at 47.8 per cent compared to Liberty's 30 of 71 at 42.3 per cent. The Dream also took more free throws — 30 attempts to 23 — and converted 23 of them.

and here's the thing, we had called this one before kick-off. Fifty per cent confidence for Atlanta, and that felt right. They were the better team on paper and showed it when it counted.

Liberty remain fourth with 26 wins and 17 defeats, seven points behind the Dream who sit on 29 victories. The gap will not close if New York cannot find answers against teams that defend their paint.