Mystics look to maintain momentum against Storm (Jun 26, 2017)
The Washington Mystics prevented a small skid from escalating with a stout defensive performance in their last game. Based on their previous meeting against Seattle, they will need a similar effort to weather the Storm on Tuesday afternoon.
The Mystics (8-5) ended a two-game slide with a dominant 97-63 road win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday. Chicago committed 21 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field against Washington.
"It's also about our defense," Mystics leading scorer Elena Delle Donne said after the win. "When we're playing great defense, we get out into transition and we can really find the right people and find the open spot. That was what was most helpful was once we turn up the defense we look really good, offensively too."
The offense looked good and balanced at Chicago. Tayler Hill paced five double-figure scorers with 17 points. Kristi Toliver scored all of her 16 points in the first half as Washington outscored Chicago 31-7 in the second quarter. Delle Donne finished with 11.
"When somebody like Kristi has a good start to a game and Tayler Hill finally got going and Elena gets going, then you add somebody else, then it gets hard to guard when three, four, five players get going," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said.
Washington's defense didn't get going enough during an 81-71 loss at Seattle on May 21. The Storm shot 49.2 percent from the field and controlled the third quarter 25-13. Jewell Loyd led all scorers with 26 points.
Seattle could use a similar performance after losing four of five, including Friday's 85-82 setback against Phoenix. The Storm trailed 49-42 at halftime.
"We're trying to figure out where that urgency is to start games," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek told the team's website. "We're definitely evaluating our slow starts and just how teams are coming at us early in games and putting us on our back foot early."
With Loyd, Brianna Stewart and Crystal Langhorne, the Storm have one of the top offenses in the league, ranking third in field goal percentage. However, Seattle is averaging 15 turnovers per game, a scenario that limits shot attempts.
Delle Donne, fifth in the WNBA at 19.3 points per game, had only 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting at Seattle. Washington shot 34.9 percent from the floor overall.
"We had a plan going in," Storm point guard Sue Bird after the first meeting. "In the first half in particular, they were able to dictate offensively. They were getting the shots they wanted when they wanted them.
"During halftime, we talked about being more aggressive and trying to dictate them more. What you saw was our strength, which was getting out in transition. Once we got some stops and were able to push it, the momentum switched for us."
