Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
Tomorrow its do or die for the Washington Mystics in the Second Round of the WNBA Playoffs. Without the ability to play on their own home court, Elena Delle Donne and company will take to the court at the George Washington Smith Center in hopes of playing in the next round against Atlanta on Sunday.
For the Sparks, they will come to D.C seeking revenge for the buzzer beater by Natasha Cloud just a week prior. The Mystics have had several days to rest and they will face a team that has travelled across the country and saw their star, Candice Parker struggle in the first playoff game to advance to face the Mystics.
Parker scored a career-playoff- low, two points, but it was more a team effort behind Chelsea Grey, Riquna Willaims and Nneka Ogwumike that helped this team. Parker knows the match-up she has against the potential WNBA MVP in Delle Done, but says they are ready for a rematch.
“That was a tough one for us,” said Parker about the loss last week to the Mystics in D.C. “This is the year that the WNBA has had plenty of highlights, there are definitely going to be some on Thursday night.”
The X factor for the Mystics is going to be another solid team effort from players like Toliver and Cloud. Both have found ways to get Delle Donne the ball this season and create turnovers that have led to fast break points that have made the difference in quite a few games for the team that struggled to begin the season.
One thing that could help the Mystics is that playing on neutral court that the Sparks have yet to see could help the Mystics and most definitely helps their fans as the building holds just 5000 fans. This is one playoff game not to miss.