Special Contributor // Jon Marshall
There was an eerie silence all too familiar in the Washington Mystics locker room Tuesday night. Puzzled looks and frustrating answers have been the norm for the squad, which continued after a heart breaking loss to the Atlanta Dream. Sancho Lyttle’s 13-foot jumper in front of the Mystics bench sealed the 72-70 win catapulted by an 11-3 run in the fourth quarter.
It was a pretty sloppy first half between the two squads, missing wide open shots, fumbling the ball and getting their fair share of floor burns. One thing noticeable was the Mystics defense on Angel
McCoughtry. She torched the Mystics for 33 points in their last meeting in July.
She was held in check for most of the half by Marissa Coleman. She didn’t score her first bucket until 5:45 in the second quarter. McCoughtry got hot during Atlanta’s late run, finishing with a team high 19.
Things got heated in the fourth where it seemed Washington would pull out a second straight win. Matee Ajavon got the crowd rocking following two consecutive treys to make it a 67-61 game with just under two minutes left.
Down 68-62 with 55 seconds left, Atlanta quickly silenced the Verizon Center audience. A miscommunication on defense allowed Iziane Castro Marques to free up and bank a wide open three pointer. Ajavon was fouled on the ensuing possession, hitting both foul shots.
Out of a timeout, McCoughtry, with Coleman draped all over her nailed a three as she fell to the floor to pull within two at 70-68. Washington’s panic would rise after McCoughtry stripped Ajavon leading to a game tying layup by Armintie Price.
The Mystics had another chance to seal the deal with 8 seconds left. With the inbounds play seemingly going awry, Demya Walker took the pass and drove into the paint before getting called for double dribbling.
This gave the Dream one final shot with 5 seconds left. With all the attention on McCoughtry on the left side of the court, Lyttle was able to find an open look on the right side leaving less than a second on the clock.
The win moves Atlanta one step closer to the .500 mark at 10-11. They have been on a roll taking seven of their last nine contests. Washington is at 4-15. Erika Desouza provided the Dream with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Matee Ajavon was big-time once more for the Mysitcs leading all scorers with 28, scoring 17 in the fourth. All-star forward Crystal Langhorne chipped in with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Langhorne is still in disbelief, understandably running out of reasons for the team’s dismal record.
“You can’t give up threes,” she said. “I don’t even know. I can’t believe we lost. When you have a lead you can’t just blow it.”
After the game head coach Trudi Lacey praised the improvement of her young team, yet questioned whether the killer instinct needed to close games is there.
“It comes down to letting the other team know that you’re not gonna take our lead away from us,” Ajavon said. “We have to do that.”
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