DeWanna Bonner, 39, Scores 23 Off Bench as Dream Beat Liberty 92-82 to Open WNBA Semifinals

The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Sunday, October 4, to take a 1-0 lead in their WNBA semifinal series, and the headline wasn't one of Atlanta's young stars. It was 39-year-old DeWanna Bonner, playing in just her eighth game for the franchise.

Bonner finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in more than 30 minutes off the bench, shooting 10-of-18 from the field and 3-of-6 from three, according to CBS News and Newsday. Her 23 points marked her highest-scoring game since joining Atlanta, per Burn City Sports.

According to StatMuse data cited by ClutchPoints and Yahoo Sports, Bonner is only the fourth player age 39 or older to score 20-plus points in a WNBA playoff game, joining Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Diana Taurasi and Alysha Clark. Bonner also holds the WNBA record for career playoff games played, at 101, per the New York Daily News.

Gray's injury opened the door

Atlanta needed Bonner because leading scorer Allisha Gray went down with a left hand injury in the first quarter, returned briefly, then was ruled out for the rest of the game after re-aggravating it, according to the New York Daily News. Gray had scored seven points in 11 minutes before exiting.

Dream head coach Karl Smesko had no update on Gray's status after the game. "I don't have an update at this time. Hopefully she'll be OK," he told reporters, per the New York Daily News.

That uncertainty forced Smesko to lean harder on Bonner, who he said guarded multiple positions, including players who have won MVP awards. "She played multiple positions. She guarded people who have been MVPs in this league," Smesko said, according to CBS News. "She has a lot of enthusiasm but also has a calming presence about her. She's just been fantastic."

A halftime speech and a 20-2 run

New York led 40-37 at the break, but Atlanta outscored the Liberty 32-15 in the third quarter to take control, according to CBS News and Newsday. Teammates credited Bonner with sparking the shift at halftime.

"DB got into us at halftime, and we knew we didn't play our best in the first half," guard Jordin Canada said, according to CBS News. "We talked about a second-half surge. The first three minutes of the second half were going to be really important." Bonner declined to share the specifics of her message, telling reporters "maybe after the series," per the New York Daily News.

The outlet reported the run that followed reached 20-2, fueled by forced turnovers. Here the coverage diverges on specifics: CBS News reported the Dream forced 19 Liberty turnovers overall, while the New York Daily News put the number at 21, describing it and the resulting 32 points off those turnovers as a WNBA playoff record, and the 16 points off turnovers in the third quarter alone as tying a quarter record under the league's four-quarter format, adopted in 2006. The exact turnover count differs between the two accounts, but both agree Atlanta's defense, not just its shooting, decided the game.

How Bonner got to Atlanta

Bonner began the 2026 season with the Phoenix Mercury before the two sides agreed to a contract buyout in August, after Phoenix was eliminated from playoff contention, according to the New York Daily News and Burn City Sports. She signed with Atlanta as an unrestricted free agent on August 27.

The move reunited her with a familiar playoff role. Burn City Sports noted Bonner played a similar bench-scoring part for Phoenix's run to the 2025 WNBA Finals after a midseason return from Indiana. Smesko said Atlanta had tried to acquire Bonner "a couple times" before it finally worked out, calling her "exactly what we needed," per Newsday.

Since she joined, the Dream are 8-0, according to Newsday. Atlanta, the Eastern Conference's top seed, is now two wins from its first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013.

Jordin Canada led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding five steals, according to CBS News. Angel Reese had 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks, and Rhyne Howard posted 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. For New York, Sabrina Ionescu scored 27, Breanna Stewart added 19, and Jonquel Jones had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m. ET, according to ClutchPoints and Yahoo Sports. Whether Gray can play remains the open question hanging over Atlanta's bid for a 2-0 series lead.