And Then There Were None
The Mystics' season hit a bump in the road tonight, as Washington was soundly beaten by the Dream in Atlanta, 93-81. This means there are no longer any undefeated teams in the WNBA.
The Mystics' season hit a bump in the road tonight, as Washington was soundly beaten by the Dream in Atlanta, 93-81. This means there are no longer any undefeated teams in the WNBA.
As we watched the game, it seemed clear to us that the Mystics were feeling the effects both of a long layoff and the absence of their #2 leading scorer, Marissa Coleman. Not only that, but the player brought in while Riss recovers from her high ankle sprain, Kristen Mann, also missed tonight's game due to illness. With no small forwards available to back up Mo Currie, Coach Plank was forced to experiment with different combinations . . . and frankly, none was all that effective.
Early on, with the five usual starters on the floor, the Mystics held their own against Atlanta, as the two teams finished the first quarter tied at 20. However, the game went downhill quickly after that. Washington fell behind by 7 at the half, a deficit that ballooned to more than 20 points after the break. But to the Mystics' credit, they didn't quit, and managed to close the gap in the final quarter to a somewhat more respectable 12-point margin by game's end.
Alana Beard led the Mystics with 20 points. Crystal Langhorne had her first double-double of the season, 10 points and 10 rbs. Three other Mystics finished in double figures (Ajavon 13, Currie 10 and Sanford 10). All this scoring wasn't enough, though, as the Dream dominated the Mystics on the glass, 46-31 . . . leading to many easy baskets for Atlanta.
The Mystics fly home tomorrow morning (hopefully with nothing like the 9-hour delay they experienced yesterday on their flight out). And tomorrow evening, they host Kristi Toliver and her Sky teammates at 7 PM at the Phone Booth. Like the Mystics, Chicago will be playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Sky lost in a blowout tonight to the Sun in Connecticut, 91-61. KT, coming off the bench, posted a team-high 14 points in the Sky's losing effort. Obviously, both Washington and Chicago will be looking to bounce back on Saturday from their losses this evening. Of course, only one of them will. Let's hope it's the Mystics who find a way to get back on track.
The Mystics fly home tomorrow morning (hopefully with nothing like the 9-hour delay they experienced yesterday on their flight out). And tomorrow evening, they host Kristi Toliver and her Sky teammates at 7 PM at the Phone Booth. Like the Mystics, Chicago will be playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Sky lost in a blowout tonight to the Sun in Connecticut, 91-61. KT, coming off the bench, posted a team-high 14 points in the Sky's losing effort. Obviously, both Washington and Chicago will be looking to bounce back on Saturday from their losses this evening. Of course, only one of them will. Let's hope it's the Mystics who find a way to get back on track.
* * * * *
The Washington Post's Camille Powell, who provided truly excellent coverage of the Terps this past season, has an article in Saturday's paper here about Marissa's and Kristi's transition from college to pro ball.
posted by BasketCases @ 10:59 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Let's hope the trip home is swift and uneventful so they're refreshed and ready to go!
The Dream announcers left a lot to be desired and the production lacked the quality of a high school AV department. Could someone please tell that guy its "Beard" not "Baird"??
High school AV is too kind! I thought I was watching a 1970's broadcast with the way they displayed the awful score/time overlay graphics. How about the DE FENSE words that would pop up...you'd think they'd stream the house feed minus the Jumbotron graphics package. Oh well :)
Most of the Live Access web cast games we've watched haven't had a score or timeclock at all, so this was progress! LOL!
- BC
Shoot, they barely had a score showing at all on NBA TV for the NY/San Antonio game. But they had that useless crawl on the bottom of the screen that fed the same three bits of WNBA/NBA news.
We were at the game. The problem was not just the internet feed -- there was NO sound system at all for the first half, and only a makeshift one after that.
No player intros, no national anthem, no music, no game call, etc.
It really was like a high school game.
(BTW -- no way there were 6,000 people in the arena. I guess announced-attendance-inflation is not just a DC phenomenon.)
I just hope the game was an aberration due to a combination of bad luck (flight, Mann's illness, long lay-off). Hopefully, the coach will get them back on track tonight.
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