For the Mystics, It Turns in a Hurry
Mercury 98, Mystics 90
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Early in the second half, Coach Tree Rollins pleaded with them. He called a timeout. He hunched his towering, 7-foot-1 frame toward his panting players, his forehead glistening with sweat as his voice burned with urgency.
"Take care of the ball," Rollins remembered saying. "Our schemes are solid, and if we execute them, we'll be fine."
Only the Washington Mystics weren't fine. They didn't do what Rollins asked and, once more, turnovers proved to be their downfall. The Phoenix Mercury beat the Mystics, 98-90, last night at Verizon Center and snapped Washington's three-game winning streak.
The Mystics' demise began in the second half's first three minutes, when they committed four turnovers that fueled an 11-2 Mercury run. Phoenix's one-point halftime lead grew to 51-41, and, from there, Diana Taurasi (31 points) and Cappie Pondexter (28), the WNBA's top back court, dashed the Mystics' hopes.
"Players forget," Rollins said, shaking his head. "They forgot. For whatever reason, they didn't execute, and that falls on me."
Washington entered hoping to capitalize on Phoenix's split personality.
Entering Tuesday, the Mercury's streaking, fast-break offensive style paced the league with 87.4 points per game. However, its running came with a risk: Phoenix held the dubious position of allowing the most points per game (90.5) of any team.
Early on, Taj McWilliams-Franklin exposed the Mercury's weakness. She spun and squeezed with ease through Phoenix's 2-3 zone defense, helping to keep the Mystics close on her way to 31 points. The first half included 11 lead changes, and trailing 40-39, Washington bounced into the locker room with a real possibility of winning four consecutive games for the first time since last August.
Then Washington unraveled.
"We just lost focus," McWilliams-Franklin said.
The Mystics didn't get much help from Alana Beard. She finished with 11 points, almost nine below her season average. She struggled to find open spots on the perimeter. When she did, she missed 9 of 13 shots. Afterward she said of Taurasi and Pondexter stealing her spotlight at home, "They shoot everything."
"Both of their wings are so prolific," Mystics guard Laurie Koehn said. "It's just so difficult to defend. They make so many tough shots."
