It went down to the wire for the Washington Mystics (5-3) thanks to solid defense the ladies wound up the afternoon with a 71-65 victory over the Seattle Storm (1-6) in WNBA action on Sunday.
On an emotional day in Seattle, as the franchise honored one of the greatest players in the sport of Women’s Basketball in Sue Bird, with plenty of celebrities and greats in attendance along with a stellar crowd of 13,213 rocking Climate Pledge Arena, it was overall the Mystics defensive effort that helped to ward off the Storm’s offense.
The other emotions that the ladies dealt with and overcame is the fact that they were without Forward Elena Delle Donne, as she sat out the game with a sore neck.
There were plenty of players stepping up and showing that the Mystics are going to be a tough team to beat as six players had positive minutes on the court on the offensive side.
Helping to lead the way is Natasha Cloud, as the guard had a stellar shooting performance from beyond the arc going 4-for-6. In addition, Cloud also shot 5-for-9 from the field as she wound up the game with 19 points.
Washington Mystics fans are encouraged to check out the following Post Game Press Conference video featuring thoughts from Head Coach Eric Thibault, Natasha Cloud and Tianna Hawkins…video is compliments of the Washington Mystics.
For Cloud this was her 9th career game with 4+ three-pointers made, also her first going 5-8 from three at Seattle since August 21, 2022.
Ariel Atkins finished second on the scoring sheet with her 12 points on 3-for-8 shooting, along with and assist and a steal.
Showing off some great low post moves Shakira Austin filled up the stat sheet with her 11 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block. This is her seventh consecutive game scoring in double-digits, which is the longest streak in her career.
Austin has played great when it comes time for rebounding, as her 9.3 rebounds per game leads the Mystics and is good for the sixth-highest mark in the WNBA.
The Mystics had themselves a Milestone Moment on Brittney Sykes second steal of the game allowed her to have the longest active streak in the WNBA of games with at least one steal with 17 games. This was the 62nd career game with 2+ steals and that mark ties Sykes for third in the WNBA with 1.9 steals per game.
Seattle tried to make things close in the Fourth Quarter of play, as they were making a ton of clutch buckets later into the game. The Mystics though stood tall and were able to keep the Storm at bay and walked out of the Arena with a big road victory.
Up next for the Washington Mystics as the ladies are on the road is a trip to Indiana to take on the Fever on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
For more information on the Washington Mystics fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: