COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Rhyne Howard made a career-high nine 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 36 points despite her scoreless first quarter, Brittney Griner moved into second place on the WNBA career blocks list, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Chicago Sky 88-70 on Friday night.
Howard broke the franchise record for 3-pointers in a game, topping Renee Montgomery’s eight in 2018, and she tied the WNBA record. It’s the third consecutive season a player has matched the mark originally set by Kelsey Mitchell for Indiana Fever in a game against the Connecticut Sun in 2019. Jewell Loyd had nine 3-pointers for the Seattle Storm against the Washington Mystics in 2023, while Arike Ogunbowale did the same for the Dallas Wings against the Fever last September.
Howard’s nine makes came on 19 attempts from behind the arc — the first shot of the game was her long-range miss — and eight of those makes were in the second half (including five in the fourth quarter), breaking the WNBA’s record for 3-pointers in a half.
The 25-year-old Howard is a former Chattanooga-area prep standout who starred for the Bradley Central Bearettes before an All-America career at the University of Kentucky. She was the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft and the league’s rookie of the year that season, when she also received her first WNBA All-Star selection before adding a second in 2023.
Howard is returning to Chattanooga next Thursday as the featured guest speaker at the Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet. Howard, the Scrappy Moore Female Athlete of the Year honoree in 2018, will be the first former Best of Preps award winner to return as the speaker.