Road-Weary Mystics Glad to Be Home

Washington Mystics Coach Julie Plank rounded up her team at the end of practice at Verizon Center yesterday, reminded them about an upcoming film session and offered a few words of encouragement. But before she released the team, Plank said the words that already echoed through each of the Mystics' minds. "It's great to be back home."

The Mystics kick off the season's longest homestand (six games) tonight when they host the Los Angeles Sparks after playing seven of their first 10 games on the road. This 16-day stretch will carry them through the WNBA All-Star Game on July 25 and gives Washington a chance to pick up steam in the conference race.

"This is definitely the opportunity for us to get going," said guard Alana Beard said. "We are home, we're 5-5, and the games we lost were close. It's just about us being mentally focused enough to finish things off. Maybe it is do or die for the season, because we want to head into the all-star game on a roll."

Washington is 2-1 at home this season. Players have commented on the additional boost they receive from a noticeably larger and more vocal Verizon Center crowd than in years past. Through three home games, the average crowd is 11,104, up from 7,788 for the 2008 season.

Combine the Mystics' confidence playing in Chinatown with the fact that they are healthy for the first time since their 3-0 start to the season and you have a team thinking this homestand could get them back on track.

On July 6, the Mystics released center Tasha Humphrey, who had been hampered by a nagging knee injury since training camp, and re-signed athletic rebounder Bernice Mosby, a forward. The next day, rookie forward Marissa Coleman returned to the lineup in Minnesota after missing 3 1/2 weeks and six games with a high ankle sprain. The team initially projected that Coleman, who was second on the team in scoring when she suffered the injury, would miss four to six weeks.

Mosby recorded 10 points and four rebounds in more than 14 minutes in the 96-94 overtime loss to the Lynx, and although Coleman played less than eight minutes and recorded just two points, she believes the team is poised for a winning streak.

"Even coming off the loss with me back, with B-Mo back, we feel cohesive," Coleman said. "The coaches are happy, everybody's happy with the way things are going. We honestly believe we have a solid chance of going 6-0 during this home stretch. It is a tough stretch, but we're a tough-minded team."

In addition to taking on Los Angeles (4-6) and reigning most valuable player Candace Parker tonight, the Mystics will host San Antonio (4-5), New York (3-7), Sacramento (3-9) and the two teams alongside them at the top of the Eastern Conference in first-place Indiana (8-2) and third-place Chicago (6-6).

Washington finished its most recent road trip 1-3, but Plank said she was "proud of the way we played on the road" and that the Mystics aren't overly concerned because the losses were by two, seven and five points.

"We pretty much had one of the toughest schedules of any team in the league starting out on the road so much," Beard said. "The games that we lost on the road were close games and I feel like if we were home -- you can't use that as an excuse -- but I feel like we would have definitely had an advantage. I'm excited to be back."

Notes: The Sparks will be without veteran center Lisa Leslie, who has missed five games since spraining her right knee on June 19. . . . Parker is expected to play in her third game of the season tonight. She missed the first eight games of the season after giving birth to a baby girl, Lailaa, during the offseason.