On the team’s pride night and with emotions at an all time high, there were a ton of high points for the Washington Mystics in the team’s 88-69 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in WNBA action on Friday.
With the team as a whole attacking the basket and shooting the ball, just about every person wearing the Mystics uniform contributed positive minutes and quite a few had career highs in the game.
There are so many impressive stats and numbers that came from the night including the team’s 88 points was the most scored this season by the Mystics, and they did so on a season-best 50.0% mark from the field.
The trend of the team’s stellar defensive play continued as the ladies were able to hold a very talented Mercury squad to 69 points, thus far the squad has allowed only 74.2 opponent points per game, the fewest total in the WNBA.
As for individual performances there were many on the court that got the fans in the Entertainment and Sports Arena rocking with their performances, starting with the team’s leader Elena Delle Donne.
Delle Donne used her voice to inspire the team at halftime encouraging them to build on the successes that they had and then backed that up with a 17-point performance, as she went 7-12 from the field, in addition to having a perfect 2-2 night from the free throw line.
Elena continues to etch her name in the WNBA record books, as she is currently 10th in the league with 18.2 ppg and is the only player in the league averaging 15+ ppg on 45% or better from the field, 40% or better from three, and 90% or better from the free throw line.
Mystics fans are encouraged to check out the following video that features thoughts from Head Coach Eric Thibault along with Delle Donne and Meng from after the team’s victory over the Mercury on 6/16…video is compliments of the Washington Mystics:
One of the new leaders on the floor in Brittney Sykes played with hustle and heart and finished the night with 16 points on 6-9 from the field. The stat line for Sykes included her going 2-3 from three along with four rebounds, three assists, and five steals, her eighth career game with 5+ steals.
The scary moment for Sykes and fans of the Mystics came in the later stages of the game, as the guard fell to the floor and shook in pain after running into some contact in the low post area.
The Mystics are going to check on Sykes along with Center Shakira Austin, who also rested up in the game after the 1Q with an injury as well to see what the status of the team’s roster is for their game against Chicago on Sunday.
One of the things about the Mystics though, is that they have had so many members of the roster step up and contribute valuable minutes and their depth roster wise is going to be something that is going to hopefully see them have success during the 2023 season.
There were two others on the team that had themselves a showing as Li Meng, as she is starting to has been getting an increase in minutes, was rewarded for her fine play with her first career start against Phoenix.
Meng, having a wonderful shooting night, finished with a career-high 14 points on having a best in field goals and three pointers made. Li went 5-12 from the field and 4-9 from three.
There is a ton of positivity and good energy around the team but they are going to have a quick turnaround and another tough test on Sunday as they play host to the Chicago Sky as these two WNBA Franchises are set to play for a 3:00 p.m. tip.
For more information on the Washington Mystics fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: