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Sykes, Dream Earn No. 2 Seed in WNBA Playoffs
8/21/2018 9:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Brittney Sykes and the Atlanta Dream enter the WNBA Playoffs as the No. 2 seed following Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Aces. Sykes, now in her second season with the Dream, was a huge factor in the Dream's turnaround this season. After winning just 12 games in 2017 and missing the playoffs, Atlanta finished the regular season atop the Eastern Conference this year with a 23-11 record.
Sykes became Syracuse's highest-drafted women's basketball player in program history when she was selected in the first round, seventh overall, in the 2017 draft. She went on to earn WNBA All-Rookie honors in her first professional season.
Appearing in 29 games in the regular season, Sykes made seven starts and averaged 20.7 minutes per game. She scored in double figures in 13 games and tallied a season-best 20-point performance in a win over former Syracuse teammate Kayla Alexander and the Indiana Fever on July 1.
Atlanta finished the regular season with the second-best record in the WNBA and earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Alexander just completed her sixth season in the WNBA and first with the Fever. She spent the previous five years with the San Antonio Stars whom relocated to Las Vegas at the conclusion of the 2017 season. The Stars drafted her in the first round, eighth overall, in the 2013 WNBA Draft. Alexander was the first first-round WNBA Draft pick in Orange history.
Alexander, the all-time leading scorer at 'Cuse, played in 30 of the Fever's 34 games this season. She averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 8.6 minutes per game. She scored a season-high 10 points in a loss against Phoenix and recorded a season-high five rebounds against the Seattle Storm on Aug 7.
Indiana went 6-22 overall and 3-13 in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Atlanta will play the winner of Connecticut vs. Dallas/Phoenix in a best-of-five series starting Sunday, Aug. 26.
The WNBA Playoffs get underway Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. when the Dallas Wings play the Phoenix Mercury in the first round. Minnesota and Los Angeles will meet at 10:30 p.m. in the other first round game. Both games will be live on ESPN2.
Sykes became Syracuse's highest-drafted women's basketball player in program history when she was selected in the first round, seventh overall, in the 2017 draft. She went on to earn WNBA All-Rookie honors in her first professional season.
Appearing in 29 games in the regular season, Sykes made seven starts and averaged 20.7 minutes per game. She scored in double figures in 13 games and tallied a season-best 20-point performance in a win over former Syracuse teammate Kayla Alexander and the Indiana Fever on July 1.
Atlanta finished the regular season with the second-best record in the WNBA and earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Alexander just completed her sixth season in the WNBA and first with the Fever. She spent the previous five years with the San Antonio Stars whom relocated to Las Vegas at the conclusion of the 2017 season. The Stars drafted her in the first round, eighth overall, in the 2013 WNBA Draft. Alexander was the first first-round WNBA Draft pick in Orange history.
Alexander, the all-time leading scorer at 'Cuse, played in 30 of the Fever's 34 games this season. She averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 8.6 minutes per game. She scored a season-high 10 points in a loss against Phoenix and recorded a season-high five rebounds against the Seattle Storm on Aug 7.
Indiana went 6-22 overall and 3-13 in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Atlanta will play the winner of Connecticut vs. Dallas/Phoenix in a best-of-five series starting Sunday, Aug. 26.
The WNBA Playoffs get underway Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. when the Dallas Wings play the Phoenix Mercury in the first round. Minnesota and Los Angeles will meet at 10:30 p.m. in the other first round game. Both games will be live on ESPN2.
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