Friday's three-game slate leaned heavily on interior dominance and defensive intensity. Atlanta physically punished Dallas from tip to buzzer, Indiana survived a chippy game against Golden State on the strength of Aliyah Boston's double-double, and Seattle put Connecticut away with a suffocating second quarter that the Sun never recovered from. Here's how it all went down.

Atlanta Dream 86, Dallas Wings 69

This one was ugly for Dallas from the opening tip. Atlanta jumped out 19-9 after the first quarter and built a lead as large as 19 on a night where the Dream lived in the paint and made the Wings pay every time they tried to answer. The final was 86-69, and it was not particularly close after halftime.

Rhyne Howard was the best player on the floor by a significant margin. She put up 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, going a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line with eight assists, four steals, and two blocks. Her 78.3 percent true shooting percentage and efficiency score of 43 were the highest marks of the game, and the 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio reflected how clean her decision-making was all night. Atlanta scored 54 points in the paint and went 63.6 percent at the rim, a relentless attack that Dallas simply had no answer for. Allisha Gray added 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting while attacking the basket consistently. Angel Reese chipped in 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds, and Jordin Canada ran the offense smoothly with nine points, six assists, and just one turnover.

Dallas's night was a study in futility at the offensive end. Paige Bueckers shot 3-of-13 for seven points with a technical foul and finished at minus-25. Arike Ogunbowale was worse, going 1-of-11 from the field for two points and finishing at minus-27. The Wings went 0-of-10 from midrange, converted just 25 percent of their three-point attempts, and shot 50 percent from the free throw line. The one bright spot was Odyssey Sims off the bench, who went a near-perfect 5-of-6 from the field for 14 points with five assists and a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Awak Kuier also made all six of her field goal attempts (including both threes) for 16 points. But those contributions came in a losing effort against a Dream team that won the turnover battle 18-15 and turned Dallas's mistakes into 18 points.

GSV 87 · NYL 70

Indiana Fever 90, Golden State Valkyries 82

This was a tough game to watch at times. Both teams combined for 50 personal fouls, three technical fouls, and a flagrant, and Indiana needed a dominant third quarter (29-17) to put away a Golden State team that led by as many as eight in the second frame. The Fever held on 90-82 in what was more of a grind than a showcase.

Aliyah Boston was Indiana's anchor all night, turning in a 20-point, 16-rebound double-double on 8-of-15 shooting. She drew four fouls, grabbed 12 defensive boards, and finished with a defensive rating of 84.7, the best among Indiana starters. Caitlin Clark added 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, going 4-of-9 from three with nine assists, though six turnovers kept the night from being truly clean. Kelsey Mitchell was the model of clutch efficiency, scoring 19 points while going a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. When the Fever needed stops and buckets in the third quarter to flip the game, those three delivered.

Golden State got a monster performance from an unexpected source. Kaitlyn Chen came off the bench and went 7-of-11 from the field, hitting both of her three-point attempts, for 18 points on 73.1 percent true shooting. Tiffany Hayes contributed 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting in a strong starting role. But the Valkyries' 0-of-5 conversion rate in fast-break situations was a critical failure in a game decided by eight. Indiana converted fast-break chances at 33.3 percent and turned Golden State's 19 turnovers into nine points. The Valkyries also shot 37.1 percent from the field overall, which gave them virtually no margin for error against a team that was getting to the line all night.

MIN 100 · TOR 72

Seattle Storm 77, Connecticut Sun 59

Connecticut led after the first quarter, 21-19, and anyone watching must have thought this was shaping up to be another one-possession game between these two teams. Then Seattle flipped a switch. The Storm outscored the Sun 18-7 in the second quarter, built a lead they never surrendered, and won going away, 77-59. Connecticut scored 59 points total, their lowest output of the early season.

Zia Cooke was Seattle's standout performer, putting up 25 points on 7-of-14 shooting with nine drawn fouls, going 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and converting three of her four fast-break opportunities for seven fast-break points. She was at her best when Seattle needed to push the pace and put the game away. Flau'jae Johnson gave the Storm 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocks, and Natisha Hiedeman orchestrated the offense with 11 points and six assists against just one turnover. Seattle blocked seven shots as a team and held Connecticut to 37.1 percent from the field, forcing 15 turnovers and converting those into 16 points.

Connecticut had no answers. Aneesah Morrow finished at minus-25 and shot 60 percent from the field, but the Sun's broader inability to generate any rhythm was the story. Charlisse Leger-Walker went 2-of-9 with a 22.2 percent shooting mark, and Saniya Rivers shot 1-of-6 with a minus-17 in meaningful minutes. Diamond Miller led the Sun with 13 points and was one of the only players on the roster who competed from start to finish, but 13 points on a night where your team scores 59 is not enough. Connecticut's second-quarter collapse, where they scored just seven points in 10 minutes against a Seattle defense that was locked in, set the tone for everything that followed.

LAS 97 · PHO 88

Atlanta looked like a team on a mission Friday, physically outworking Dallas and getting the best individual performance of the night from Rhyne Howard. The Wings had a night to forget from their two best players, which raises some questions heading into a stretch where they can't afford to lose ground. Indiana did what good teams do at home: weather the foul trouble and turnovers, hold their composure through a chippy game, and find a way to win behind their best players. And Seattle continues to build a defensive identity that is going to be very difficult for opponents to crack, with Friday's second-quarter shutdown of Connecticut as the clearest example yet.

Star of the Night: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream

25 points | 7-of-12 FG | 9-of-9 FT | 8 assists | 4 steals | 2 blocks | Efficiency score 43 | True shooting 78.3%

Everything about Howard's night was exceptional. The perfect free throw shooting, the four steals, the eight assists with a clean turnover ratio, and the two blocks made this a complete two-way effort that set the tone for Atlanta from start to finish. In a game where Atlanta dominated, Howard was the reason why.

Dud of the Night: Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings

2 points | 1-of-11 FG | 0-of-5 from three | 2 turnovers | minus-27

Coming off a 23-point showing two games earlier, Ogunbowale ran into an Atlanta defense that had zero patience for her usual separation game. One made field goal in 11 attempts with a minus-27 in a 17-point loss is one of the worst individual lines on the week. Dallas needed Arike, and Arike did not show up.