by ATLANTA, June 4, 2015 — The Atlanta Dream, under the leadership of co-owners Mary Brock and Kelly Loeffler, has announced its opening-night roster of 12 players that will suit up when the Dream opens the 2015 WNBA season on June 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET in Madison Square Garden against the New York Liberty.
The Dream’s roster includes nine players who finished the 2014 season as members of the Dream, including the entire front court. Holdovers from the 2014 season include guard Matee Ajavon, center Nadia Colhado, center Erika de Souza, guard Tiffany Hayes, forward/center Aneika Henry, forward Sancho Lyttle, guard/forward Angel McCoughtry, forward DeLisha Milton-Jones and guard Shoni Schimmel. Another member of last year’s squad, Céline Dumerc, is suspended for the 2015 season while fulfilling her French National Team commitment.
The returning players, which include the top five scorers from a year ago, accounted for most of the production from last year’s squad which for the first time in team history claimed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. Players who accounted for 2,550 of Atlanta’s 2,740 points (93.1 percent) are on the opening-night roster, while the Dream also returns players who accounted for 93.2 percent of its rebounds, 89.8 percent of its assists, 93.3 percent of its steals and 94.5 percent of its blocks.
The Dream returns five players who have been named to WNBA All-Star teams during their careers (de Souza, Lyttle, McCoughtry, Milton-Jones and Schimmel), plus a former All-Rookie Team member in Hayes. Four of the players are Olympians, with McCoughtry and Milton-Jones (twice) earning gold medals with the United States and Colhado and de Souza competing for Brazil.
The three newcomers on the squad include one long-time veteran and a pair of rookies. Eleventh-year guard Roneeka Hodges was the team’s lone free agent acquisition after starting all 34 games for Tulsa a year ago. Guard Samantha Logic was the team’s first-round draft pick (No. 10 overall) in the April draft, while guard Erica Wheeler made the team after not even starting training camp as part of the roster.
The three-time Eastern Conference Champion Atlanta Dream opens its eighth season in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) on June 5 at New York, with the home opener slated for Sunday, June 7 at 3 p.m. ET vs. the Connecticut Sun. The Dream, which plays its home games at Philips Arena, has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past six seasons, winning conference titles in 2013, 2011 and 2010. Season and single-game tickets for the 2015 season can be purchased by calling (877) 977-7729 or visiting www.AtlantaDream.net.
