Mystics Plagued by Turnovers

Monarchs 79, Mystics 76

The situation unfolded the way it had so many times before. Somewhere between the first and second quarters, the Washington Mystics went from a solid basketball team to a group that looked as if it had never played together.

The offense recorded only two field goals through the first five minutes of the second quarter and the defense gave up uncontested jump shots on nearly every possession. Then, as if according to the script they've acted out regularly, the Mystics snapped out of their lapse to fight back.

Washington even claimed the lead for portions of the second half before going ice cold again in the fourth with the game on the line, and ultimately came up short in a 79-76 loss to the Sacramento Monarchs last night at Verizon Center.

"We don't have that sense of urgency; for some reason we get it in the second half," said guard Alana Beard, who scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. "One thing that killed us were turnovers. We just can't hold on to the ball. We go periods where we have five, six turnovers in a row and it kills us."

The Mystics (2-7) turned the ball over 19 times in their fifth straight loss, negating what perhaps had been their best all-around start of the season.

In the first quarter, Washington shot 10 of 15 and despite Sacramento's best attempts to rattle the offense, maintained its composure in a back-and-forth affair. The Mystics had a 21-18 lead entering the second quarter.

But they recorded only two field goals through the first five minutes of the period and watched Sacramento go on a 10-0 run.

This time, when defensive-minded Sacramento (4-4) clogged the lanes and forced Washington to take outside shots, the offense collapsed under the pressure -- overall the Mystics shot 4 of 17 from three-point range.

"They like to pack the lane in," said Beard, who made 2 of 7 three-pointers. "They have everybody denying, they even have their wings denying. They do a very good job with helping each other out and they've always been known for their defensive skills."

Conversely, every time the Monarchs drove the lane the Mystics froze and offered up wide-open looks from almost any angle. When Washington mustered a stop on the inside, Sacramento kicked the ball out to two of its sharpshooters, forward Nicole Powell and guard Kara Lawson, who combined for all of the Monarchs' seven three-point field goals.

Any lingering momentum from the Mystics' start evaporated on the heels of 7-of-17 second-quarter shooting. Sacramento was 11 of 18.

"The first half we didn't push the ball like we should be able to do," Mystics Coach Tree Rollins said. "We show signs of being a competitive team. This is probably our most complete game in a long time. Our defense has to catch up at this point in the season."

The Mystics woke up in time to cut Sacramento's lead to six at the half.

Washington found its usual determination in the second half, surging to tie the game at 54. By the end of the third quarter it was the Mystics who held a three-point advantage.

The Monarchs went on a 13-5 run through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, and although the Mystics came back to tie the game two more times, Sacramento never wavered. Once again Washington was undone by an untimely drop-off -- shooting a miserable 4 for 16 in the fourth -- and five turnovers that the Monarchs converted into seven points.

"We've been having letdowns in different quarters," said forward Monique Currie, who had 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting. "We knew we had to make a line, we couldn't get down in the hole like we've been doing but couldn't finish. We're all hungry and we all know we have to win. We need to win. We're 2-7 and that's just not good enough."