Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
For the Washington Mystics, there have been a few ups and downs so far this season and after the last battle against the Liberty at home, tonight was nothing short of another battle to end… unfortunately, the Mystics were on the wrong side of the 86-78 final tonight.
Somehow the Mystics were able to battle all the way back in the final three minutes of the game tonight despite Kiki Iriafen sitting quite a bit of the fourth quarter with foul troubles.
Iriafen’s eight-game streak of 10+ points and 5+ rebounds is tied for the longest by any WNBA player this season, alongside Satou Sabally and Dearica Hamby.
Iriafen, came into tonight’s game being named WNBA Rookie of the Month for May and made her defensive efforts known again tonight with 17 points and Jade Melbourne added 15 for Washington, who now falls to 3-6 on the season just two games ahead of the woeful Connecticut, who come to D.C on Sunday.
Things didn’t go too great for the Liberty either tonight as they suffered the loss of Jonquel Jones., who suffered an ankle sprain midway through the first quarter. Liberty Head Coach Sandy Brondello said that she tried to give it a go after the half, but it just was not happening for Jones.
The loss of Jones could prove to be a big hit for the 8-0 Liberty as her size and perimeter shooting takes quite a bit of pressure of Stewart and Ionescu, who drew quite a bit of pressure in that Mystics run over the final 3:00 minutes tonight.
New York came into the game tonight with its best start in franchise history, moving past the 1997 squad that started 7-0.
For Washington, the road has gotten harder since picking up 3 victories in first week of the season, and there seemed to be a bit of lack of bench help minus the effort by Shakira Austin, who finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds in some key minutes in fourth quarter.
