Mystics Don't Quite Let It All Get Away From Them

Mystics 69, Sun 64

This was far from familiar territory for the Washington Mystics. After a season full of late-game comebacks, they were the ones protecting a lead as the game wound down yesterday afternoon. They were the ones who had controlled the tempo since they took the lead in the first quarter, and it was the Connecticut Sun, the second-place team in the Eastern Conference, that searched for a way back into the game.

And the Mystics nearly laid one out on a silver platter.

Up by double digits entering the fourth quarter, Washington started showing the signs of a team that had grown too impressed with itself. There were sloppy passes and ineffective defensive efforts. But despite being outscored 18-10 in the final frame, the Mystics held on for a 69-64 win at Verizon Center that gave Connecticut its third straight loss.

"It was good that we had a lead, but I think we got a little too comfortable," said point guard Nikki Blue, who posted a career-high and team-best 13 points. "We started coming down and playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We were running the ball up and down the court the whole game and kind of slowed that down at the end."

It was as though the Mystics (8-12) had forgotten the lesson they so often teach opponents: Teams rarely go down without a fight.

Sun point guard Lindsay Whalen was practically unstoppable as she tied a career high with her game-high 33 points. She shot 9 of 17 from the field, 13 of 16 from the foul line. In the fourth quarter, she made her only two three-pointers and scored 13 points to pull Connecticut back into the game.

"We've just got to put teams away," Mystics forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin said. "I don't care who we're playing. When you have them down you have to put them away and we didn't. We just keep letting them hang around."

Washington initially spotted Sun (13-8) a nine-point lead to open the game, before feeding rookie center Crystal Langhorne on the inside to establish the lead it protected from that point on.

Langhorne, who scored her seven points in the final 1 minute 25 seconds of the first quarter, sparked a 22-2 Mystics run that stretched over eight minutes in the first half. But the Sun's lack of scoring seemed tied more closely to its shooting than to Washington's defense.

The Sun had plenty of open lanes to the basket but preferred the shots it could get from the outside and rarely hesitated to try long-range jump shots, even early in the shot clock. However, Connecticut was 1 of 13 from three-point range in the first half. The Sun is now 8 of 62 (12.1 percent) from three-point range over the past three games.

Washington held a 13-point lead by the time Whalen recorded two free throws for the Sun's first points of the second quarter with four minutes remaining. But it was at that point that Connecticut began to venture inside and started pushing its way toward the basket and cut the Mystics' lead to 36-34 at the half.

But Washington got the complete effort it needed in the third quarter. The Mystics forced eight turnovers and recorded several defensive stops while racking up 23 points to the Sun's 12. That was done without leading scorer Alana Beard, who left at the midway point of the quarter with a contusion above her right eye.

"They rallied," said Beard, who returned briefly in the fourth quarter and is not expected to miss any time. Washington "played tremendous defense and that's what won us the game. They kept going, kept going and kept getting stops. We needed stops. The third quarter won us that game."

While Washington did manage to preserve its lead, the game offered a reality check, McWilliams-Franklin said.

"We're a team that must win and we have to play like we're desperate every single minute," she said. "Connecticut can still lose a game here, there and still be near first or second. We don't have that luxury. If we don't get it done in July the [Olympic] break is really going to be the break. Our season will be over."

· SKY 79, DREAM 66: Jia Perkins and Candice Dupree scored 18 points apiece to help host Chicago (6-13) snap a four-game losing streak. Katie Feenstra had a season-high 21 points for Atlanta (2-19), which had won two of three after starting the season 0-17.