Rhyne Howard wreaks havoc with 5 steals as Atlanta routs Golden State in Game 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Rhyne Howard has been a ball hawk for Atlanta on the defensive end all season long, leading the WNBA in steals.

She's upped her play in the WNBA Finals. Howard had five steals on Wednesday night in Atlanta's 97-71 rout of the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3. That came after she had six steals in the Game 2 victory. She's the first player in WNBA history to have consecutive games with five or more steals.

“On the other side you have one of the better scorers (Gabby Williams) in the postseason, so I just needed to make her life hard, take her shots away, take her looks away, get in the passing lanes and making sure that they’re not getting anything easy, as opposed to what we’re trying to get on the offensive end,” said Howard, who averaged 2.3 steals this season.

Howard and the Dream have been locked in defensively the entire series so far. Even in the Game 1 loss they only gave up 68 points. They just didn't force as many turnovers. On Wednesday, Atlanta turned 17 Golden State turnovers into 22 points.

“We’re No. 1 in a lot of categories, and that first game we didn’t show why," Howard said. "So I think Game 2 and Game 3 today, we showed why we were No. 1 in those categories not only in the postseason, but in the games leading up.”

Golden State guard Veronica Burton knows the Valkyries need to do better taking care of the basketball, especially when Howard is around.

“She’s long. I think she’s deceptively long, and she has good instincts," Burton said. “We’ve got to take care of the ball more when she’s in the gaps.”

Howard also had her offense going in the victory with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds. She had 17 points combined in the first two games. The All-Star was more aggressive getting to the basket instead of settling for 3-pointers. Howard had 10 free throw attempts while only attempting two 3-pointers.

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here