Mystics vs. Shock: Washington picks up first win of the WNBA season, 64-61

Following an offseason in which the roster underwent significant changes, the rebooted Washington Mystics leaned on their nucleus of established veterans in a 64-61 victory over the Tulsa Shock on Saturday night at Verizon Center.

That trio of Matee Ajavon, Monique Currie and Crystal Langhorne combined for 48 points and 19 rebounds to help the Mystics survive for their first win of the season after they nearly wasted a 16-point lead.

The Mystics established that buffer in the final moments of the third quarter, and Washington (1-1) was ahead, 58-43, early in the fourth when it went scoreless for 6 minutes 15 seconds. The Shock, meantime, closed to within 58-57 when guard Ivory Latta made 1 of 2 foul shots with 3:57 left.

Guard Dominique Canty’s driving layup with three minutes remaining ended the Mystics’ scoring drought, but Temeka Johnson countered for Tulsa to trim the lead to 60-59 with 2:44 left. Currie’s jumper from the left wing and 1 of 2 free throws from Langhorne bumped the margin to four with 1:36 left, and Washington escaped when Tulsa’s potential tying three-pointer came after the final buzzer.

“Whew, it’s a relief,” Ajavon said. “A win is a win. It wasn’t pretty, but we were able to pull it through.”

Ajavon scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, when she came off the bench after missing last weekend’s season opener with a sore right knee. Langhorne added 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, including an offensive rebound with four seconds remaining in which she was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws.

The Mystics overcame 28 turnovers in part thanks to limiting Tulsa (0-3) to 30.5 percent shooting and outrebounding the Shock, 40-27. Washington also allowed just 4 of 14 three-pointers.

“Very simply, we have to make better decisions with the basketball,” Mystics Coach Trudi Lacey said of her team’s 32 turnovers. “Some of the turnovers are just silly. I don’t know any other way to put it. We have to continue to work on that, but on the upside, I felt like our defense was very good, especially our three-point field goal percentage defense.”

Latta led the Shock with 16 points. She was the only player to reach double figures for Tulsa, which got six points and a team-high five rebounds from rookie Lynetta Kizer, the ACC’s sixth player of the year at Maryland.

The Mystics closed the first half on a 12-1 run over the last three minutes that erased a five-point deficit and put them ahead to stay. It began with 1 of 2 foul shots from Currie and Langhorne’s layup off an assist from Ajavon.

Ajavon made a pair of foul shots, and Currie did the same to give Washington a 35-33 advantage before Tulsa got one free throw from Scholanda Dorrell with 2:16 left until halftime. Langhorne bumped the lead to three with two foul shots, and Currie swished a three-pointer from the right corner to complete the first-half scoring.

“It was a battle, but I’m glad that we found a way to win,” said Currie, who made 2 of 3 three-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws. “But we still have a lot to work on, especially playing against the world champions [Minnesota Lynx] next week.”