Delle Donne leads Mystics into road game vs. Wings (Jun 5, 2017)
Elena Delle Donne hopes for a repeat of her career night when the Washington Mystics visit the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Delle Donne snagged a career-high 15 rebounds and led the Mystics with 23 points en route to a narrow 78-72 win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.
The former WNBA MVP sank five free throws in the final 43 seconds with Washington trailing 72-71 after the team blew an 18-point lead, giving the Mystics their fourth straight win.
"I think we're starting to see glimpses of what can be for this team, especially to start the game out like that," said Mystics guard Kristi Toliver, whose team shot just 36.5 percent from the field. "It's good to know that when we aren't shooting the ball that well we're still able to grind out wins."
Washington (5-2) leads the Eastern Conference but is shooting a league-worst 40.3 percent from the field this season. Delle Donne ranks sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 20.3 points.
Dallas (3-4) begins a three-game homestand as it comes off back-to-back losses, most recently a 91-85 setback to the Fever in Indiana on Saturday.
Glory Johnson paced the Wings with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Skylar Diggins-Smith added 17 points. Dallas made only 6 of 19 3-pointers and is second-to-last in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (28 percent).
Despite their inefficient long-distance shooting, the Mystics still rank third overall in the league in points per game (82.4) and fifth with a shooting percentage of 42.6 from the floor.
"I love this system," rookie Allisha Gray, the Wings' third-leading scorer (12.7 points per game), told SummitHoops.com. "I love that they urge you when you get a rebound just push it and go. They just give us freedom to play."
The Mystics were without Tayler Hill (neck/shoulder), Natasha Cloud (knee) and Asia Taylor (neck) against the Dream. Their status is uncertain for Tuesday's game.
Meanwhile, Aerial Powers (hip) and Courtney Paris (meniscus) will be sidelined for the Wings.
Washington faces Dallas three times this season and twice at home. The Mystics won two of their three meetings with the Wings last season.
