Special Contributor // Jon Marshall
After an epic 24-point comeback win on Sunday against the Los Angeles Sparks, the Washington Mystics failed in their attempt to start any winning momentum Wednesday afternoon, losing to the Atlanta Dream 86-79.
The Dream’s Angel McCoughtry showed why she is a top-ten scorer in the WNBA. She gave the youngsters in attendance for Camp Day at the Verizon Center a clinic on offensive basketball. The slender 6-foot-1 wing led all scorers with 33 points (one shy of a career high).
McCoughtry finished the afternoon going 10-of-18 from the field. She also went to the line 17 times, connecting on 11 of her attempts.
Crystal Langhorne paced the Mystics with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Marissa Coleman also provided some inside punch pouring in 21 of her own.
It was a back and forth affair in the first half with eight lead changes. Atlanta gained the 39-38 halftime edge though on the strength of McCoughtry. Showcasing a vast array of silky moves in the lane, the Mystics were left puzzled from the jump as she lit the scoreboard up with 20 first half points.
The score continued to see-saw in the second half. With a little under five minutes to go in the fourth, rookie point guard Jasmine Thomas came up huge nailing two straight three pointers and a hanging bank shot in the lane to give Washington the 76-74 lead.
Washington would score once more though as Atlanta pushed to a 10-2 run in the closing minutes to secure the win. The loss puts the Mystics record at 3-11.
Head coach Trudi Lacey lamented on the team’s poor decision making down the stretch. These included an errant inbound pass cross court by Marissa Coleman and countless possessions ending in poor shot selection.
“With forty seconds we still had an opportunity,” Lacey said. “We settled for jump shots so again as we go, we just have to continue to practice those situations and at the end of games execute. We have evidence that we can do that. We did it against L.A.”
Thomas (10 points), who Lacey praised after the game on her development at point guard refuses to use inexperience as an excuse.
“We don’t have any rookies anymore,” Thomas said. “We’ve played on the road, we’ve played at home, we’ve played great teams. You’ve been through everything. Now it’s just a matter of putting everything together and always going out there playing hard and being confident.”
It was announced this week that Mystics third year forward Crystal Langhorne will represent the eastern conference as a reserve in Saturday’s WNBA All-Star game. This will be her second straight appearance.
Langhorne is averaging a career high 17.4 points and 7.9 boards per game. She is carrying a heavy load this year especially with injuries to veterans Alana Beard and Monique Currie.
The first player in University of Maryland basketball (male or female) history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds reflected on her early career struggles.
“Not after my rookie year,” she said. “I wouldn’t have thought that would have happened. I was having a rough rookie year and I was just like you know am I going to be able to play in this league for a while? So you know I’m just really happy with the way my career is going and it’s a great opportunity for me.”
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