Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
They may be one of the best teams in WNBA history and have one of the best records and best player in the league, but tonight the Washington Mystics and Shakira Austin didn’t care who they were facing, they were just going to stay in this game until the final seconds no matter the outcome.
Austin, determined what that outcome was going to be with just over 12.8 seconds remaining hitting a two-point shot under the basket off a Mystics missed lay-up by Sonia Citron and then hitting the free throw off the foul to tie the game a 99 and then taking 100-99 lead after the free throw.
The Aces who are known for their late game heroics tried a play off the time out and unfortunately could not find Aja Wilson, who had another one of those Aja doing Aja things games finishing with 38 points. Wilson was 12-of-16 shooting and made 12 of 13 free throws, but the miss came with 17 seconds left to open the door for Austin. Jackie Young had 24 points and Chelsea Gray 19.
For the Mystics grabbing a victory taking them to 2 games over .500 going into the All-Star break is a huge jump from where they were just one week ago. They knocked of the second-best team in the WNBA tonight and have two more shots at the Aces during the first couple weeks of August.
Lauren Betts who has had her share of struggles this season had 13 points off the bench for the Mystics who came into the game tonight the lowest-scoring team in the league at 79.6 points a game. Kiki Iriafen added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Michaela Onyenwere and Georgia Amoore both had 10 points.
“Everyone in this locker room knows what we can do and the fact that we are a young team keeps coming up, but that’s not going to prevent any of us from laying it all out there to win games. I think everyone saw that tonight, said Mystics Forward Shakira Austin.
If you were betting on this game tonight, it looked as if the Aces were a sure bet, but even with 12.8 seconds remaining and the Mystics having the lead, the Aces still had a 57.4% chance of winning this game.
Just like Austin said post-game, don’t count this team out at any time in the second half of the season and if everyone stays healthy, this team could make playoff push.
Next stop… Chicago for Sonia Citron and Shakira Austin.
