ATLANTA — Shameka Christon scored 17 points and Janel McCarville had 15 to help the New York Liberty pull away for a 93-81 win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

The Liberty (2-3), who began the season with three straight losses, scored 29 points in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers by Christon and one by Cathrine Kraayeveld.

Atlanta had won two straight, but the Dream (3-3) never led after going ahead by four in the first quarter.

Chamique Holdsclaw led Atlanta with 17 points. Iziane Castro Marques added 14.

The Dream used a strong zone defense in winning their past two games, but they failed to defend the perimeter effectively as the Liberty went 9 for 18 on 3-point attempts.

Christon went 3 for 5 beyond the arc.

After Tiffany Jackson’s layup gave the Liberty an 81-65 lead with 8:45 remaining, New York took its biggest lead when Ashley Battle’s layup made it 89-69.

The Liberty, which hit 57 percent of their 61 shots from the field, got 13 points from Kraayeveld.

Despite having McCarville pick up her fourth foul and head to the bench with 5:22 left in the third, New York took an 11-point lead on Kraayeveld’s jumper to make it 61-50 less than a minute later.

Christon followed with a 3 before Kraayeveld’s three-point play put the Liberty ahead 73-58.

Loree Moore finished with six assists for New York.

Lyttle and Erika DeSouza each scored 13 points for Atlanta.