By Zachary McMahon –
The Washington Mystics played the New York Liberty at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in the quest for their first win of the season. Meanwhile, the Liberty came in with a six-game winning streak after winning on Saturday against the Connecticut Sun.
The Mystics are 0-11 after losing a close 85-83 match against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at a record-breaking crowd at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on Friday. This was the fifth game that the Liberty have played in eight days.
This was also a part of the Commissioner’s Cup, and the Liberty came into the matchup with an undefeated 4-0 to try to stay perfect for homecourt in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game. Meanwhile the Mystics came in 0-3 in cup games against the Fever, Chicago Sky, and Sun.
This is the third time that the teams have met each other this season, the other two was in the season opener when the Liberty won 85-80 on May 14, and on May 31 at the Barclays Center, where the Liberty won 90-79.
The Mystics were without Shakira Austin, who was out for the fourth straight game with a hip injury and Brittney Sykes, who has not played since the May 17 loss against the Sun with an ankle injury.
Both teams were tied at 45 to end the first half, as the half provided plays for the highlight reel. Mystics 31-year-old rookie Julie Vanloo made a behind-the-back assist to Myisha Hines-Allen in the second quarter. Similarly, Jonquel Jones made a behind-the-back pass to Lonnie Fiebich who made a wide-open three from the corner.
The Mystics had an 11-0 run, which included three three-pointers from Hines-Allen, Vanloo, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. This got them to their biggest lead of the game until the Liberty would score six straight points of their own to take back the lead in the third quarter.
At the end of the third quarter, the Liberty led by two points, and then with 4:48 left in the game jumped out to a 84-77 lead, which would be their largest of the game. After Hines-Allen made her last two free throw shots as she went up for three following a foul by Fiebich, there would be
no scoring for 2:07. Then the Mystics scored five straight points to shorten the deficit to 88-86, which ended with a steal by Hines-Allen off the inbound and took it all the way to the basket on her own.
Jade Melboune got it to within one with a layup with 19 seconds left, and then Jones brought to to three with a layup with her own. Melbourne missed the game-tying three-pointer with four seconds left and Betnijah Laney-Hamliton made the final two free throws of the game, as the Mystics fall to 0-12 following a loss to the Liberty 93-88.
They are one loss away from tying the third worst record to start the season in WNBA, which is the Detroit Shock (now Dallas Wings) when they lost 13 in a row to start the 2002 season. The worst record is the 2008 Atlanta Dream, who lost 17 in a row to start the season.
The Liberty improved to 11-2, which ties their best record for the first 13 games in franchise history, which happened in the WNBA’s first season in 1997.
Melbourne and Hines-Allen both lead the Mystics off the bench with 21 and 20 points respectively. Melbourne’s 21 points is her career-high in points. Hines-Allen lead in both rebounds and assists with eight and seven respectively.
Jones led the Liberty with 29 points, followed by three other players who scored in double-figures, with Sabrina Ionsecu with 19, and lead the team in assists with eight.
Breanna Stewart with 14, and Fiebich with 12 off the bench. Laney-Hamliton had 10 rebounds with her five points, all from free throws, as she was 0-1 from the floor.
The Mystics will be playing their second game on the road as they will be traveling to College Park to face the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. tip-off, as they search for their first win.
Meanwhile, the Liberty will look to extend their winning streak to eight as they will have five days off before they travel to the west coast to face the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury.
Sports Insider Daily 