Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
On Sunday the Mystics came up on the short end of an overtime game with the Mercury, tonight they found the right combination with Elena Delle Donne back in the line-up to pull off a strong, 83-65 victory to pull to 10-6 on the season.
The Mercury continues to battle quite a bit of finding the right mix of scoring game after game without three star players. They just did not have enough in the fourth quarter to even pull closer then 10 points all while Diana Taurasi continued to struggle from the field.
The first quarter was an evenly matched affair with Washington taking a 21-19 lead. But things opened up in the second half with the Mystics taking a 44-34 lead at the half. Washington shot just 36 percent in the period, but they outrebounded Phoenix, 14-9 to get more shot opportunities.
“We just played as strong as we have all season long in the second half. We forced them to take some tough shots that led to easy buckets at the other end,” said Mystics Head Coach Mike Thibault.
Washington had another solid game from Natasha Cloud and Shakira Austin, who has been a pleasant surprise as a rookie this season. She dropped a double double with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds.
The Mystics have another rematch with the Liberty on Thursday and then face Connecticut on Sunday.