Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
“There is something that coming back to D.C makes it special for me,” said former Mystics All Time Scoring leader and now 2024 Mystics Hall of Famer. But was even more special than the halftime induction, was the Mystics getting her a W.
Both the Sparks and the Mystics came into tonight at the bottom of their respective divisions and potentially a battler for the Number 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, which is most likely going to be Paige Bueckers.
Whether this the final look on how the season is going to pan out, it just appears that the Mystics have had a better finish the past two games, with this being their first victory since the Olympic break and more importantly a needed victory of confidence going to the end of season uncertainty of this team.
Brittney Sykes scored a season-high 28 points and Shakira Austin added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mystics had their best looks in the fourth quarter a 10-0 run with Sykes setting up back-to-back layups by Austin before a basket from Emily Engstler made it 64-55 with 7:24 to play. Dearica Hamby answered with a basket and then hit 1 of 2 free throws for Los Angeles to trim its deficit to six points, but that six-point margin was as close as the Sparks would get.
Could the Mystics be in the running for the top spot in the draft. The next few weeks will say a lot and the Mystics have a few tough games coming up. This is definitely something to watch, with even Bueckers in attendance herself tonight.