Currie, Mystics Net 1st Win of Season

Mystics 86, Mercury 69

As Alana Beard walked off the floor for the final time last night-- a victory well in hand -- she looked up at the 6,838 hardy souls gathered at Verizon Center and flashed her widest smile.

"It was a 'thank you' to the fans, because I think we had another nice crowd tonight," said Beard, who raised her arms in celebration as she came off the court. "Even though we were 0-8, our fans still continue to come out to support us and that's nice to see."

After testing their patience and their allegiance, and after nearly exhausting both, the Washington Mystics beat the Phoenix Mercury, 86-69, for their first victory of the season.

The Mystics ended the second-longest losing streak to start a season in WNBA history behind a career-high 25 points by Monique Currie, who seized the role of hometown hero for the first time since arriving via trade on May 24.

"They brought me here for a reason," Currie said. "I just wanted to be able to make them feel happy with the decisions that they made."

General Manager Linda Hargrove raved about Currie's upside when she made the deal to bring the small forward to Washington, even though it cost the Mystics starting center Chasity Melvin and Coach Richie Adubato, who resigned partly in protest of the move.

Currie struggled to learn the Mystics' offense, though she showed signs of growing more comfortable against New York on Tuesday. Last night, Currie left no doubt that she'd settled in, aggressively slashing to the basket to get to the free throw line, where she hit 13 of 14 shots.

Her play ignited the rest of the Mystics, who for the first time all season showed the ability to play the up-tempo style that interim head coach Tree Rollins has been advocating since taking over.

Phoenix entered the contest leading the WNBA in scoring, no surprise considering Coach Paul Westhead's roundball-meets-NASCAR offensive philosophy. But the Mystics beat the Mercury at its own game, clearly establishing themselves as the better offensive team last night while shooting 45.8 percent from the field to break out of a shooting slump.

"We've proven we can play," said Rollins, who claimed his first win as a head coach in the WNBA. "We've shown that we have the talent to compete."

The evening began predictably enough for Washington, the WNBA's worst shooting team. The Mystics opened 0 for 6 from the field and added five turnovers. Starting small forward Tamara James picked up her second foul less than three minutes into the game, forcing Rollins to summon Currie.

Currie proved the catalyst, and her 16 first-half points were enough to overcome the fact that Beard, James and DeLisha Milton-Jones -- the team's top three scorers -- combined to go just 1 of 12 from the field in the opening half for a combined two points.

The Mystics led 35-31 at intermission before Phoenix opened the third quarter on a 12-3 run to take a five-point lead.

Washington answered the charge and entered the fourth quarter, a time of monumental problems this season, leading by five points. But in an act of pure catharsis, Washington spent the next 10 minutes running Phoenix off the floor. Even Diana Taurasi's game-high 28 points weren't enough slow the Mystics, who outscored the Mercury 30-18 in the final period.

"One of the facts in those losing games was that we couldn't close it out in the end. But tonight, we closed it out," said Beard (19 points). "But now I think it gives us confidence in the fourth quarter to know that we can win games in tough situations."

Beard hit a three with about five minutes left to push the lead into double-digits for good, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Moments later, Milton-Jones looked up at the scoreboard and quietly enjoyed a comforting thought: "We finally got us one."

· FEVER 90, STORM 62: Tan White scored a season-high 23 points for host Indiana (8-1) against Seattle. Janell Burse led the Storm (4-4) with 18 points.

· LYNX 77, SUN 73: Seimone Augustus scored six of her 28 points in overtime for host Minnesota (2-9). Asjha Jones had 22 points for Connecticut (4-4).

· SPARKS 74, COMETS 71 : In Los Angeles, Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 20 points to lead the Sparks (4-2) to a victory over winless Houston (0-8).