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Mystics look to keep rolling vs. slumping Liberty
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Mystics go for their fourth straight win when they host the New York Liberty on Thursday night.
The last time the teams met, the Mystics upset the Liberty in a single-elimination, second-round playoff matchup 82-68 in September and the teams have traveled in opposite directions this season.
Washington (9-5) sits atop the Eastern Conference while the Liberty (4-9) have lost three straight and are having problems finding the basket. New York has failed to hit the 70-point mark three times this season, including in their past two contests.
The Liberty nearly rallied back from an early deficit against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, trailing 30-16 after one quarter, but they could not complete the comeback, falling 83-69 at home. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 12 points and Bria Hartley and Shavonte Zellous added 11 each.
"We spotted them a good amount in the first quarter," New York coach Katie Smith said. "The third quarter we could not get any buckets. We had 11 points in the quarter. Scoring points right now is hard for us and we need to find a way to put points on the board."
With a layup in the first quarter, Charles scored the 5,014th point of her career, surpassing Taj McWilliams-Franklin to move into 18th on the WNBA all-time scoring list on a night she took just 12 shots and made four.
"She needs to touch the ball a little more and be a facilitator," Smith said. "At times, we feel the need to allow her to touch the basketball to suck the defense in. I will take her attacking the basket, going in there and getting fouled. We still have to play through her a good bit while still be aggressive at every other position."
The Mystics also fell behind by double digits in the first quarter Tuesday night, trailing the visiting Connecticut Sun by 10. Washington's stepped up its defense and defeated the Sun 92-80 to take over sole possession of first place and improve to 2-1 against Connecticut.
Washington trailed by three at halftime but went on a 16-point run midway through the third quarter.
"It's amazing when you play really good defense what kind of things can happen," Mystics coach Mike Thibault told the Washington Post.
Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 25 points and LaToya Sanders had a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds.
"We're trying to be a championship team, so when we play other good teams, we can't just get blown out by 30 when we know we have the talent and 12 healthy players now to compete with anybody in this league," Sanders told the Post.
The Liberty have been victimized by the 3-pointer of late, allowing 20 makes from deep at a 51 percent clip over the past two games. That does not bode well against a Washington team that leads the WNBA in 3-point shooting percentage (36.6 percent).
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Sparks-Storm Preview
A Los Angeles-Seattle matchup would generally create some buzz around the WNBA.
Thursday night's game at Key Arena is no different, but for different reasons.
A headline Wednesday on WNBA.com read: "Sparks & Storm Quotes About ESPN The Magazine's BODY Issue."
Longtime Storm point guard Sue Bird is on the cover with girlfriend Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. national team soccer star. Seattle forward Breanna Stewart is featured inside.
"It's been great, I would say 99.9 percent positive," Bird told The Seattle Times. "There are some people -- mostly on Twitter, so I try not to read a lot of the comments -- who don't like naked bodies.
"But I don't view it that way at all. I think it's a celebration of people who are athletes who part of their job is to take care of themselves and lead a healthy lifestyle. And we all look different. It's a celebration of that. That's how I see it."
While Bird and Stewart have received positive reviews, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said she heard from several critics last year after appearing in the Body Issue.
"I got mixed reviews because I come from a very conservative culture being Nigerian," Ogwumike told WNBA.com. "I had a lot of conference calls with family members."
As for Thursday's game ...
The last time the teams met June 7, the Storm won 88-63 for their first victory at Los Angeles since 2015.
That loss sparked Los Angeles, which won its next five games to move to the top of the WNBA standings.
That streak was snapped Friday, when the Sparks suffered another lopsided defeat -- 101-72 at Dallas.
The Sparks responded with an 87-73 home victory over Dallas on Tuesday night as Candace Parker scored 29 points.
The Sparks (11-3) hope Tuesday's win starts another positive run. The Sparks played Tuesday without Ogwumike, the 2016 league MVP, because of a back injury. Ogwumike is averaging 16.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
"Nneka is irreplaceable," Parker said. "We just try to do the best we can by committee."
The Sparks also had to overcome coach Brian Agler's ejection early in the third quarter. Agler is in his 15th season as a head coach, including 2008-14 with the Storm.
"He was fighting for the team and felt that we weren't getting some of the calls that were obvious in our opinion," said Sparks assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey, who took over for the rest of the game. "That's what we're here for, to support the coach and what the team needs."
The Storm (10-5) are coming off a 91-79 loss Tuesday at defending WNBA champion Minnesota despite 27 points from Stewart, the league leader with 22.3 points per game.
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Mystics go for their fourth straight win when they host the New York Liberty on Thursday night.
The last time the teams met, the Mystics upset the Liberty in a single-elimination, second-round playoff matchup 82-68 in September and the teams have traveled in opposite directions this season.
Washington (9-5) sits atop the Eastern Conference while the Liberty (4-9) have lost three straight and are having problems finding the basket. New York has failed to hit the 70-point mark three times this season, including in their past two contests.
The Liberty nearly rallied back from an early deficit against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, trailing 30-16 after one quarter, but they could not complete the comeback, falling 83-69 at home. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 12 points and Bria Hartley and Shavonte Zellous added 11 each.
"We spotted them a good amount in the first quarter," New York coach Katie Smith said. "The third quarter we could not get any buckets. We had 11 points in the quarter. Scoring points right now is hard for us and we need to find a way to put points on the board."
With a layup in the first quarter, Charles scored the 5,014th point of her career, surpassing Taj McWilliams-Franklin to move into 18th on the WNBA all-time scoring list on a night she took just 12 shots and made four.
"She needs to touch the ball a little more and be a facilitator," Smith said. "At times, we feel the need to allow her to touch the basketball to suck the defense in. I will take her attacking the basket, going in there and getting fouled. We still have to play through her a good bit while still be aggressive at every other position."
The Mystics also fell behind by double digits in the first quarter Tuesday night, trailing the visiting Connecticut Sun by 10. Washington's stepped up its defense and defeated the Sun 92-80 to take over sole possession of first place and improve to 2-1 against Connecticut.
Washington trailed by three at halftime but went on a 16-point run midway through the third quarter.
"It's amazing when you play really good defense what kind of things can happen," Mystics coach Mike Thibault told the Washington Post.
Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 25 points and LaToya Sanders had a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds.
"We're trying to be a championship team, so when we play other good teams, we can't just get blown out by 30 when we know we have the talent and 12 healthy players now to compete with anybody in this league," Sanders told the Post.
The Liberty have been victimized by the 3-pointer of late, allowing 20 makes from deep at a 51 percent clip over the past two games. That does not bode well against a Washington team that leads the WNBA in 3-point shooting percentage (36.6 percent).
******************
Sparks-Storm Preview
A Los Angeles-Seattle matchup would generally create some buzz around the WNBA.
Thursday night's game at Key Arena is no different, but for different reasons.
A headline Wednesday on WNBA.com read: "Sparks & Storm Quotes About ESPN The Magazine's BODY Issue."
Longtime Storm point guard Sue Bird is on the cover with girlfriend Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. national team soccer star. Seattle forward Breanna Stewart is featured inside.
"It's been great, I would say 99.9 percent positive," Bird told The Seattle Times. "There are some people -- mostly on Twitter, so I try not to read a lot of the comments -- who don't like naked bodies.
"But I don't view it that way at all. I think it's a celebration of people who are athletes who part of their job is to take care of themselves and lead a healthy lifestyle. And we all look different. It's a celebration of that. That's how I see it."
While Bird and Stewart have received positive reviews, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said she heard from several critics last year after appearing in the Body Issue.
"I got mixed reviews because I come from a very conservative culture being Nigerian," Ogwumike told WNBA.com. "I had a lot of conference calls with family members."
As for Thursday's game ...
The last time the teams met June 7, the Storm won 88-63 for their first victory at Los Angeles since 2015.
That loss sparked Los Angeles, which won its next five games to move to the top of the WNBA standings.
That streak was snapped Friday, when the Sparks suffered another lopsided defeat -- 101-72 at Dallas.
The Sparks responded with an 87-73 home victory over Dallas on Tuesday night as Candace Parker scored 29 points.
The Sparks (11-3) hope Tuesday's win starts another positive run. The Sparks played Tuesday without Ogwumike, the 2016 league MVP, because of a back injury. Ogwumike is averaging 16.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
"Nneka is irreplaceable," Parker said. "We just try to do the best we can by committee."
The Sparks also had to overcome coach Brian Agler's ejection early in the third quarter. Agler is in his 15th season as a head coach, including 2008-14 with the Storm.
"He was fighting for the team and felt that we weren't getting some of the calls that were obvious in our opinion," said Sparks assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey, who took over for the rest of the game. "That's what we're here for, to support the coach and what the team needs."
The Storm (10-5) are coming off a 91-79 loss Tuesday at defending WNBA champion Minnesota despite 27 points from Stewart, the league leader with 22.3 points per game.
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