INDIANAPOLIS — The Atlanta Dream continued their strong play after a dismal start to their season.

Iziane Castro Marques had 24 points and Betty Lennox scored 11 of her 16 in the fourth quarter to lead the expansion Dream to an 81-77 victory Wednesday against the Indiana Fever.

"We pretty much played 40 minutes of great basketball, and it was a great team effort," Castro Marques said. "We never thought we were going to lose this game."

Atlanta (3-19) began 0-17 to set a new WNBA record for consecutive losses.

"Being 0-17 is nothing to be happy about, but the thing I like most is that we persevered through it," Lennox said. "Nobody even expected us to win one game and now we got three."

Indiana forward Tamika Catchings had 18 points, 12 rebounds and five assists before re-injuring her right heel with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter. Catchings, who missed the first eight games of the season because of an Achilles' tendon injury, was kicked in the foot and did not return to the game.

A recent addition to the U.S. Olympic team, Catchings will undergo further examination for a possible strain of the Achilles' tendon.

"Our players stepped up when Catch went out," Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. "We put ourselves in a position to win, but our defense failed us."

Katie Douglas had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Ebony Hoffman added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Fever (10-10), who ended their five-game home winning streak.

"It was a bad loss, a real bad loss," Hoffman said. "Atlanta might be the last team in the league standings, but they aren't a bad team."

Indiana, which trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, took a 63-61 lead on Hoffman's 3-pointer with 5:30 left in the fourth. The Dream regained a 73-71 advantage following consecutive 3s by Lennox.

The Fever closed within 78-77 on Hoffman's 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, but Lennox hit two free throws. Hoffman then missed a 3-point attempt with 8 seconds remaining.