As the WNBA season resumed on September 17 following the World Cup break, Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream dismantled the Connecticut Sun 103-59 in their first game back. The Gateway Center Arena became the stage for another piece of WNBA history, with Reese adding a record 30th double-double to her season, and delivering a subtle message to the other contenders after the game.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I was ready to get back. Being back home, being with Atlanta, being with my team.”
“I mean, I enjoy getting a gold medal at the USA and enjoying my time there, but this is home. I gotta leave a taste in everybody’s mouth about what the playoffs are gonna look like, so it was only right for me to come out and set the tone.”
Reese told ESPNW in the clip they shared on Instagram.
The 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup gold medalist’s confidence isn’t unfounded considering where the Atlanta Dream lie in the playoff picture. With a handful of games left in the regular season, even the league-leading Minnesota Lynx are yet to secure the top seed.
Meanwhile, the Dream are currently fourth in the standings behind the Las Vegas Aces, and on an 8-2 run in their last 10 games. With three games left on their schedule have a genuine chance of capturing a higher seed, and Reese’s confidence indicated that’s exactly what they’re hoping for ahead of the playoffs that start on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
In their dominant win against the Sun, the Atlanta Dream forward recorded a game-high 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds, adding three assists and two blocks.
With that, Angel Reese is now at the top of the single-season double-double record list, with 30. She has now surpassed the veteran Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who held the record with 28 double-doubles in 2023, and her own benchmark of 26, which Reese achieved in her debut 2024 season.
Besides Thomas, Reese now leads a list with names like defending MVP A’ja Wilson and WNBA legends like Tina Charles and Sylvia Fowles.
Reese is also averaging a career-high 16.1 points. She came in hot early in the game, scoring 19 of her 30 points in the first half. She scored her 30th point off a free throw with around 5:38 left on the clock, and added her 10th rebound just a few seconds later.
Angel Reese was not the only Atlanta Dream player who set a WNBA record in the game against the Sun.
Despite converting only one of her nine three-point attempts, Dream’s Rhyne Howard set a WNBA record for most three-pointers in a season, at 129. With 6:45 left in the fourth quarter, she made the shot that eclipsed Sabrina Ionescu’s 2023 record of 128 triples.
Meanwhile, Reese’s still has three chances to extend her double-double record even further, as she’s now making a case to become part of the MVP conversation.
A WNBA icon sees Angel Reese as the potential MVP
Angel Reese is leading Atlanta’s postseason charge this season. Besides posting career-high points, she is also averaging a league-leading 12.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 39 games so far. Now even WNBA icon Tina Thompson is backing the cause on the Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady podcast.
“I also think that Angel needs to be in that conversation [for MVP]. What she brings is impactful. What Angel Reese does, it impacts winning. And it doesn’t necessarily mean scoring.”
“People that didn’t play, they don’t know how hard that is. It’s hard. I like that she’s taken a different route to impact the game. That she’s not just kind of fixated on scoring.”
Reese’s has indeed made an impact in more ways than just scoring points. The rebounding machine has already set the WNBA Single-Game Rebounds Record, when she grabbed 26 rebounds against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 25, breaking Chamique Holdsclaw’s 23-year-old record of 24 rebounds.
Reese has also surpassed A’ja Wilson’s (451 rebounds) single-season rebound record by raising her total to 485.
Angel Reese’s historic performance comes just after she dominated the court alongside Team USA at the 2026 FIBA World Cup. She was a part of the squad that won the tournament with a clean 6-0 record.
During her first-ever World Cup, Reese established herself as a crucial anchor for Team USA’s defense. She led Team USA in blocks per game, with 0.8. She was also second on the list of steals, behind only fellow Dream teammate Rhyne Howard.
She even teamed up with Caitlin Clark for highlight-worthy layups that went viral online, showcasing her effectiveness on both ends of the hardcourt.
Having already booked a playoff berth, Atlanta can finish as high as third if they win all their remaining games and certain results go their way. And if what we’ve seen during the World Cup is any indication, then Reese won’t be phased by the fact that this will be her first WNBA playoff.
The Dream, at 27-14, is locked in a battle for the fourth seed with the Indiana Fever and, judging by their current form, may even challenge the Aces for the third seed.