🔥 THE DREAM IN PRIME POSITION

ATLANTA CAN STRENGTHEN ITS ODDS WITH ANOTHER BIG WIN

The Atlanta Dream are on a magical run. Coming into the year, they expected to be a solid playoff team that hoped to break into the upper tier of the WNBA. They’ve managed to shatter every expectation and set a franchise record for victories in a season after beating the New York Liberty on August 23.

“It means a lot. We are trying to make Atlanta a championship team [and] a place to be. Obviously, it starts right now in the regular season. We do look at these wins and really pride ourselves on them because it's been a tough season,” Dream forward Naz Hillmon said after the win.

“Every team has been great from top to bottom. You can lose any night, but I think that we've done a great job of figuring out ways to win, regardless of who's on the floor, whether for us or for the other team. But it's like we said, it's the steps in the right direction, and it's ordering our steps for what we want to accomplish at the end of the year,” Hillman added.

Team MVP and All-WNBA first team contender Allisha Gray is having the best season of her career, and joked that she’s never been this high in the standings before. That’s true, and this is the first time in her career that her team will finish the season above .500. It’s been a long road to this moment for Gray, and she’s enjoying every moment of it.

Atlanta is in the driver’s seat for the two seed, but they face a tall task on Wednesday night. They’ll be facing a red-hot Las Vegas Aces team that has raced up the standings. Vegas pushed its winning streak to 11 after beating the Chicago Sky 79-74 on Monday night in Chicago.

The Aces have also beaten Atlanta twice this season, including a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback in which they held the Dream scoreless for over five minutes. Fourth quarters have been Atlanta’s bug-a-boo, as Collin Jones of Peachtree Hoops observed on August 21:

“In the fourth quarter of games, however, Atlanta has a negative net rating of -0.1. This 7.4-point drop from their overall rating to their fourth-quarter rating is the second-largest decrease in the league, behind only that of the Las Vegas Aces (from 0.3 to -7.5). Atlanta’s drop is entirely from defensive struggles, as their defensive rating increases from an overall 99.6 rating to 106.1 in the fourth quarter.”

If Atlanta can solve their fourth-quarter woes, it’ll be one of the most dangerous teams in the WNBA playoffs. If they can’t, their dream season will turn into a nightmare.

 🤕 THE FATIGUE IS ADDING UP

WILL THE LIBERTY BE HEALTHY ENOUGH TO DEFEND THEIR TITLE?

Here at the Women’s Basketball Roundup, we’ve talked about the toll the extended WNBA season has taken on players. More games in the same amount of time have made things more compressed. As a result, we’ve seen the number of injuries increase at an alarming rate. The New York Liberty have been hit especially hard by the injury bug. How bad?

Dang. It’s been a grind for the defending champions as they’ve gone extended periods without franchise stalwarts like Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart. Stewart is a Vice President in the WNBPA, and she’s looking ahead on how to solve this problem

“The most important issue in the WNBA is looking at how crazy and condensed our schedule is,” Stewart told Shlomo Sprung of Boardroom. “And you see the fatigue, you see the injury setting in. So, I want the league to be a little bit smarter with the schedule, making more days off in between or things like that. Just making it make sense a little bit more.”

Despite the absences and month-long slump, the Liberty remain in a strong position to defend their championship. The champs got some reinforcements in the form of Breanna Stewart, who made her long-awaited return in a close win against the Connecticut Sun on Monday night. Stewart was on a minutes restriction, but still made an impact, scoring 19 points and grabbing five rebounds in 20 minutes.

And just as Stewart returned, we learned that Natasha Cloud suffered a “slight fracture” in her nose, but should be back on the court on Thursday, August 28, against the Washington Mystics. The injuries keep piling up, but the Liberty keep fighting through them.

As we draw closer to the start of the playoffs, the Liberty hope that they can finally be at full strength so they can defend their WNBA championship in earnest.

💰 MONEY MOVES

 SOUTH CAROLINA DONS SOME NEW SHOES

Under Armour had been the official sponsor for the University of South Carolina since the spring of 2007. During that time, the women’s basketball program grew into one of the best in NCAA history and is the home of one of basketball’s all-time greats. That all-time great is one of Nike’s biggest athletes, and starting in 2026, her home university will partner up with the biggest shoe company in the United States.

On August 22, it was announced that South Carolina and Nike will enter in a partnership that sees the Swoosh become their official brand partner starting on June 30, 2026. This new arrangement also sees the school do something special for A’ja Wilson:

“Recognizing A'ja Wilson as an iconic USC athlete and ambassador, Nike will provide USC Basketball with Nike-branded A'ja Wilson signature sneakers (A'Two), including USC-specific colorways to wear on the court. Nike will also explore A'ja Wilson's travel and other team gear for USC WBB during the term."

We’ve seen greater promotion of women’s sneakers lines in recent years. The success of Wilson’s A’One has opened the door for even more sneaker lines, and Nike partnering with her alma mater will lead to even more success in the future.

📰 WHAT WE’RE READING

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in the women’s basketball community.

Here’s what we’re reading:

• Q&A: Brittney Sykes on her Seattle trade, All-Star season, and more by Meghan L. Hall, For the Win

• Beyond Dreamin': It's time to stop sleeping on the Atlanta Dream by Christan Braswell, Off the Record

• How Natalie Nakase and the Valkyries redefined WNBA expansion by being 'joyfully relentless' by Meghan L. Hall, For the Win

• Paige Bueckers Is The Moment. Enjoy It. by Lucas Kaplan, Basketball Insiders

• Whether it was funk or jazz, Eddie Bo mastered it by Tammy C. Barney, Verite News

⛹🏽‍♀️ UPCOMING GAMES

Here’s the schedule for the next few days (Eastern Standard Time)

📲 STAY CONNECTED!

If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider subscribing to receive the latest updates from Black Rosie Media directly in your inbox—it's completely FREE! Feel free to share this with a friend so they can also stay informed.

Join our Black Rosie Media Slack Channel to interact directly with our contributors, participate in game-day chats, and much more!

You can also connect with us on BlueSky, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube!