Langhorne Enjoys Career Night for Mystics, Including Winning Shot in 2OT

Crystal Langhorne had already recorded a career high in points and rebounds when Alana Beard saw the Washington Mystics' second-year forward standing alone at the top right of the key with 9.1 seconds left in double overtime.

For the preceding 20 minutes Friday night, the Mystics scratched for each second, and fought through each possession as though it was their last. Because while 11 games remain on their regular season schedule after the showdown with the Connecticut Sun, this single contest would go a long way in determining their future.

This final installment in the season series with the Sun would determine the all-important playoff tiebreak between the two clubs, which are among five teams battling for three Eastern Conference playoff spots.

And when Langhorne stood alone after receiving Beard's pass, the 9,738 fans in Verizon Center held their breath. In one fluid move she made a 17-foot jump shot as the shot clock expired for the deciding basket in Washington's 91-89 double overtime win over Connecticut.

"I just really didn't want to turn it over at that point," said Langhorne, who posted single-game career highs in rebounds (16) and points (22). "I wouldn't have taken that shot last year. I think everybody knows that."

With the victory, the Mystics (12-11) snap a two-game losing streak, claim the tiebreak against the Sun and move into a three-way tie with Atlanta and Connecticut for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Washington gained the confidence it had been lacking in recent outings of this turnaround season. Rarely have the Mystics been out of a game at the start of the fourth quarter and that was the case again when they opened the final frame of regulation tied.

"This is what we needed," said Beard, who recorded a game-high 26 points and added three assists. "We needed a game like this to know that we could finish, because that's been the story. We haven't been able to close out games, but we kept fighting."

For each punch the Sun's stars Lindsay Whalen (20 points) and Ashja Jones (23 points) threw, Washington countered with key blocks and rebounds.

With the game tied and just over 40 seconds remaining in regulation, Monique Currie (10 points) stripped the ball out of Jones's hands as she drove for a layup. Then Whalen scored on a driving layup to give Connecticut a short-lived lead, as moments later Beard made a 15-footer. On the ensuing possession she wrestled the ball away from Whalen to force a jump ball.

Beard wound up with the ball in her hands again as time ticked off the regulation clock, but as she brought the ball up for another jumper Connecticut's Sandrine Gruda knocked it away -- Washington's lone all-star wouldn't make the same mistake again in the crucial moments of the second overtime.

The 6-foot-4 Gruda gave Beard a deceiving amount of free space as the Mystics guard dribbled near the top of the three-point arc, but rather than allow Gruda's long reach a chance to pop the ball from her control, Beard whipped the ball to Langhorne.

Open because of the double-team on Beard, Langhorne took the shot she's been practicing all season -- the long-range jumper that she never would have attempted as a rookie.

"I didn't know Lang could hit it," Beard said. "She was smooth with it and she's been working on it every day in practice."

-- SKY 88, LIBERTY 77: Sylvia Fowles scored 22 points and Candice Dupree added 20 to lead Chicago to victory in New York.

Shyra Ely added 12 points for the Sky (12-12), which led, 56-28, at halftime.

Shameka Christon netted 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty (8-15), which has lost four straight at home and seven of 11.