Atlanta falls to Washington in regular season final

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE COMMENTARY:

-Not a great DREAM

-Your weekly PANERA winner

-The MOLE report

Despite Angel McCoughtry's 18 points, the Atlanta Dream lost their regular season finale to visiting Washington 90-81. Believe me, it wasn't this close, though. The Dream stumbled out of the starting gates and trailed by 20+ from the second quarter till the fourth...when they managed to put on a belated rally and cut the final margin to less that double digits.

You have to wonder about the intensity and what is going on with the Dream internally since the All-Star break. The Dream has only won two games since then and dropped their final two at home. Losing to the Mystics handed them the Eastern Division title and set up a playoff scenario where Atlanta, who finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, will travel to Washington to begin their playoff quest against these same Mystics on Aug. 25th.

Atlanta is the best rebounding team in the WNBA...with DeSouza, Lyttle, McCoughtry and the rest creating nightmares forthe rest of the league...but shooting woes have created a situation where they look lost in a lot of offensive sets and if McCoughtry or Castro-Marquez are having an off night....the whole team plummets.

Here's hoping they can solve the quagmire and get it together to make a run in the post season.

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Congratulations to Andrea Maxwell, winner of the weekly PANERA BREAD gift card contest. Andrea is a big fan of the Dutchman's Lane location and writes:

"I love their specialty summer salads and that they have free wi-fi at their locations. I can spend my lunch hour eating, surfing the internet and keeping up with what is going on at the office. "

Two weeks remain in the contest.

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Our on-campus confidential reporter (we call him/her the MOLE) sends this info along:

"Back to school Monday. Been a great summer and have had some fun hanging out with a lot of the athletes who stayed on campus this summer working out. Unfortunately, there are a couple of them that aren't going to be able to pursue what they are here on scholarship for because of injuries that haven't gotten any better. It's depressing for them and one of them isn't going to remain in school because of it. On the bright side, though...fans of the women's basketball team will be glad to know that the girls who stayed on campus this summer and worked out are in great shape and there is a overpowering desire to make it back to the NCAA Tournament and also get a little revenge on the way the a certain school east of here laid it on them last winter."

We'll have reports from THE MOLE from time to time. WE can't reveal the identity of our source though because of the close nature the mole has to one of the sports.