Trending searches · 2026-10-10
Liberty vs Dream Game 3 Score: Atlanta Wins 85-83, Sweeps WNBA Semifinal
This post was compiled with AI. We checked it against the original articles and announcements, but please confirm details in the linked sources. Trending on Google Trends (US, AU, CA) 1,000+; sources collected 2026-10-10 10:52 (KST).
At a glance
The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 in Game 3 of their WNBA semifinal on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. ESPN's series line reads "ATL wins series 3-0" in the best-of-five, so Atlanta moves on to the WNBA Finals.
Why searches rose
Google Trends showed "sabrina ionescu" at 1,000+ searches in the United States, "liberty vs dream" at 500+ in Australia and "angel reese" at 100+ in Canada on Oct. 9, U.S. time. The linked headlines were about Game 3. The game itself appears to be the reason for the rise, though that is our inference.
Score by quarter
| Team | Final | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dream | 85 | 25 | 19 | 22 | 19 |
| Liberty | 83 | 18 | 21 | 29 | 15 |
ESPN and CBS Sports list the same quarter scores. Atlanta led 44-39 at halftime, and New York went ahead 68-66 after the third quarter.
How it ended
Both play-by-play logs show the same closing sequence, with clock times a second or so apart.
- Jordin Canada's layup put Atlanta up 83-79 with a little over a minute left.
- Jonquel Jones scored from close range to make it 83-81.
- After a missed Breanna Stewart jumper, Ionescu fouled DeWanna Bonner with 6.2 seconds left. Bonner made both free throws for 85-81.
- Ionescu missed a long 3-pointer, and Stewart scored on the rebound in the final second for the 85-83 final.
Leading players
The lines below match in the ESPN and CBS Sports box scores.
- Angel Reese, Dream: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks in 37 minutes.
- Rhyne Howard, Dream: 21 points, with 4-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
- Jordin Canada, Dream: 19 points and 11 assists, 8-of-8 at the line.
- Breanna Stewart, Liberty: 26 points, 13-of-13 on free throws, 6 assists.
- Jonquel Jones, Liberty: 26 points and 14 rebounds.
- Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty: 12 points, all on 3-pointers (4-of-11).
Atlanta's Isobel Borlase added 10 points off the bench. Allisha Gray did not play; ESPN's box score lists her as a DNP.
What comes next
The other semifinal, Golden State Valkyries against the Las Vegas Aces, was in its first quarter when we checked, with Golden State leading that series 2-0. The winner meets Atlanta in the Finals.
What we could not confirm
- Attendance: ESPN lists 17,991. We found no second source for it.
- Finals schedule and opponent: Dates were not in the pages we opened, and the other semifinal was still in progress.
- The Reese-Ionescu exchange: Headlines mention it, but we did not open a full written account, so the details are left out.
- No game recap yet: Wire recaps had not been published when we collected the data, so there are no quotes.
Sources
- ESPN, Atlanta Dream at New York Liberty box score (Oct. 9, 2026) https://www.espn.com/wnba/boxscore/_/gameId/401918299
- ESPN, WNBA scoreboard for Oct. 9, 2026 https://www.espn.com/wnba/scoreboard/_/date/20261009
- CBS Sports, WNBA scoreboard for Oct. 9, 2026 https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/scoreboard/20261009/
- CBS Sports, Dream at Liberty gametracker and box score https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/gametracker/boxscore/WNBA_20261009_ATL@NYL/