Couldn't Hang On.

After the Mystics' disappointing effort in Seattle on Sunday, the good news is that the team found a lot more offense last night against Sacramento; the bad news is that it wasn't quite enough, as the Mystics lost to the Monarchs, 81-87.

Yesterday's game was one of those up and down affairs . . . the Mystics were behind by only a single point at the half, took the lead after the break, lost it, tied it up at 75 with only 1:43 remaining (thanks to a big 3-pointer by Monique Currie), but couldn't hang on, as the Monarchs responded with an 8-0 run that put them ahead for good. Close, but still no "W."

Alana Beard scored a game-high 31 points, Mo added 17 (and 7 assists!), and Nakia Sanford, again coming off the bench, played like her old self in the first half, as she scored 10 points for the Mystics before the break. Unfortunately, her old self then stayed in the locker room, as Kia also finished the game with just those same 10 points.

Probably the most remarkable statistic of the night was the 17 points put up by the Monarch's PG (and former Old Dominion superstar), Ticha Penicheiro, who is known far more for her incredible passing skills (she had 8 assists last night) than for her scoring. DC-area natives Kara Lawson and Rebekkah Brunson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Sacramento. And sadly for Maryland fans, neither Lang nor Harp had a good night, both playing about 13 minutes but scoring 0 and 2, respectively.

With the season nearly half over, the Mystics now return home having gone 1-2 on their west coast swing, dropping to 6-10 overall. The Mystics' Every-Sunday-In-July-Series begins this week at 1 PM, when they host San Antonio at the Phone Booth.