Worth Staying Up For!

As our readers have probably figured out by now, the BasketCases are not exactly late night people. But the Mystics made it well worth our while to stay up late Friday night and into the wee hours of Saturday to watch their game against the Western Conference leading Mercury. Washington WON, 91-81!

That's right!! The Mystics, who came into US Airways Center only 4-7 on the road, became only the 4th team this season to defeat the Merc on their home court. It was an exciting, barn-burner of a game, with 14 lead changes and 9 ties. The score was tight until the very end, neither team up by more than a few points, until Washington was finally able to pull away.

The Mystics' win was a team effort, with 5 players in double figures, led by Crystal Langhorne, who had a game-high 19 points. Yes, Lang outscored both Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter on their own floor. (Adding a bit of drama in the waning seconds of the game, Taurasi, well-known for her colorful language, was called for two technicals and was ejected!) Lang also had 12 boards, for a double-double. Harding (15), Beard (14), Currie (12), and Ajavon (12) were the other Mystics in double figures.

Rebounding was a huge factor in the Mystics' win, as Washington literally cleaned the glass all night, pulling down 46 (!) rebounds to the Merc's 26, and leading the Phoenix announcer to observe, late in the game, that the Merc had been "crushed on the boards tonight." The Mystics' performance from the free throw line -- so often a problem for them this summer -- also helped seal the win, as Washington made 17 of 20 from the charity stripe. In fact, Mo, Alana, Lang, and Nakia (!) were perfect from the line. (We just knew that Kia would go 2 for 2 when the announcer said she was a terrible free throw shooter just before she took her first shot! Thank you!)

With this huge road win, the Mystics have climbed back into a tie with Chicago for 4th place in the East. But the Mystics have very little time to savor this victory, as they have to hustle quickly up to Sacramento to play the Monarchs at 10PM ET on Saturday night (that would be tonight!), the second half of a grueling back-to-back in the middle of their West Coast swing. Chicago will also be playing on Saturday (against Detroit), so much will be at stake in terms of playoff position.

Congratulations to the Mystics on this BIG win! Now, Go Mystics, beat the Monarchs!