Mystics Drop Season Opener
Fever 64, Mystics 53

By Jeff Rabjohns
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, May 18, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, May 17 -- The Washington Mystics had been having trouble with Indiana before the Fever added former all-star Katie Douglas.

In the 2008 WNBA season opener, Douglas only made life worse for the Mystics.

An offseason acquisition from Connecticut, Douglas made her professional debut for her hometown team, leading the Fever to its fifth consecutive win over the Mystics, 64-53.

Douglas scored 24 points Saturday night in front of a crowd of 10,533 at Conseco Fieldhouse, the most by a player in her Fever debut, one more than Tamika Catchings as a rookie in 2002.

"Katie is a very talented player," said Washington's Monique Currie, who drew the defensive assignment most of the time and scored 10 points. "She's tough, tough to defend, and if you're not on your job, she'll do what she did tonight. She really went off on us tonight."

The Mystics were without Alana Beard, their leading scorer the past three seasons. The 5-foot-11 guard is listed as day-to-day because of a strained hamstring.

Nikki Blue, who had started one game her first two years in the WNBA, opened the season as the starting point guard without Beard as a running mate.

As a result, Indiana pressured the ball nearly the entire game, and the Mystics made 22 turnovers even though Blue had five assists to two turnovers.

"Teams know we have inexperienced point guards, so we expect them to come after us," Mystics Coach Tree Rollins said. "What we have to do now is start relieving some of the pressure with some back-court picks, which we didn't execute tonight."

The Mystics play at New York on Thursday before their home opener May 25, which begins a stretch of three consecutive games at Verizon Center.

Beard, who averaged 18.8 points last season, played in one of three preseason games as the Mystics went 3-0.

"We definitely missed that scoring threat, but if you look point for point and quarter for quarter, the problem was our mental breakdowns," said Mystics center Nakia Sanford, who had 14 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high 6 turnovers. "You can't win if you have 22 turnovers. I think we had four in a row there at one point. We definitely could have capitalized, and we didn't."

Douglas scored 22 of Indiana's first 42 points, shooting 8 for 18 from the field. Her points were key because the Fever was without its star, Catchings, out indefinitely while recovering from Achilles' tendon surgery.

The crowd was nine shy of the Fever's best last season, and part of that could be attributed to Douglas, who played high school basketball in Indianapolis and helped Purdue to the 1999 NCAA title.

"She's a left-hander," Rollins said of what makes her hard to guard. "She goes left, goes left, goes left and comes back right, but we knew that from her days at Connecticut when she gave us problems.

"Normally we can put Alana Beard on her and she does a better job, not that she stops her. Monique Currie's not accustomed to chasing her, and a rookie like [Krystal] Vaughn is too inexperienced for a pro like Katie."

The Fever shot 45 percent to the Mystics' 43 and had just 14 turnovers.

Still, the Mystics managed their only lead, 44-43, entering the fourth quarter. But the Fever, with only one starter on the floor, went on an 8-0 run, and the Mystics never led again.

Vaughn missed her college graduation for her pro debut because Virginia Commonwealth's commencement was Saturday. Vaughn, who earned a degree in sport management, is the first from her family to graduate from college.

"This is a lifelong dream," she said of playing in the WNBA. "We weren't successful today, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. I'm still going to get my diploma, and any other day I can get with my family and celebrate my graduation."