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Mercury falls on Mystics, 93-87
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Trailing by as many as nine points early in the fourth quarter, the Washington Mystics had an opportunity with 00:32 remaining in the game to tie the Phoenix Mercury at 89. Phoenix had controlled most of the game with leads of 13 at the end of the first quarter and 9 at halftime.
Coming out of a full timeout called with 00:38 to play, the Mystics put the ball in the reliable hands of the WNBA’s Player of the Week for June 15-June 21, Alana Beard. Unfortunately for the Mystics, Beard was unable to connect on a mid-range jumper, and that would be the last shot taken by the Mystics who dropped their second game of the season.
Even more unfortunate for the Mystics was a subsequent blown defensive assignment with a little under 00:07 left in the game that left Le’coe Willingham wide open under the basket for an easy layup that put the Mercury ahead 91-87. Then with a little under 4 seconds to play, the Mystics turned the ball over to Cappie Pondexter who fed the ball to Diana Taurasi for a final layup that gave the Mercury their 93-87 victory at Verizon Center.
Forward Pondexter and guard Taurasi wreaked havoc all night on Washington’s defense. Pondexter racked up 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while Taurasi knocked down 23 of her own on 8-of-15 shooting and pulled down 8 rebounds to go with her 3 assists. Taurasi was particularly lethal from 3-point range, as she hit 3 out of 5. As a team, Phoenix hit 6 out of 10 three-pointers and clearly outshot the Mystics in that category who only converted on 4 of 13. Free throws were also a key factor, and again the Mercury shot better. They were 15 of 19, while the Mystics shot a mediocre 17 of 29.
Despite her untimely miss in the closing minute, Alana Beard had another tremendous game worthy of her status as one of the WNBA’s best. She scored 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting and had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Noteworthy also was the play of Crystal Langhorne who produced her second double-double of the year on sixteen points and 12 rebounds. Five Mystics players scored in double figures.
The Mystics take on the Sky in Chicago on Saturday night at 8 pm.
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