The Washington Mystics and visiting Connecticut Sun have wildly different outlooks on the season ahead of their matchup Tuesday.
With less than a month remaining in the season, the Mystics (16-18) are tied for ninth in the league, sitting only a half-game out of the playoffs. The Sun (6-27), meanwhile, continue to bottom out with the worst record in the league.
The two teams will play again on Thursday in Uncasville, Conn.
Connecticut picked up its sixth win of the season with a 71-62 home victory over the Chicago Sky on Wednesday. They had a chance to win consecutive games for the first time all year, but dropped an overtime decision to the Indiana Fever on Sunday, 99-93.
The Sun entered halftime with a 48-29 lead before Indiana outscored them 70-45 in the second half and overtime.
“We did a mistake thinking we defended well in the first half. For me, it wasn’t the case, they just missed (shots),” Connecticut coach Rachid Meziane said. “We tried in the second half to do the same thing, so we didn’t adjust our defense … the game was completely different and we lost our confidence.”
This marked the third time Connecticut allowed more than 90 points in a game this month as defensive lapses have squandered solid offensive showings.
The Sun’s offense has been inconsistent over the past four games, while the Mystics have had their best scoring stretch of the season.
In the past four contests, Washington is 3-1 and has scored more than 80 points in all four. Rookie All-Stars Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen have averaged 19.5 and 18.3 points per game, respectively, while shooting 50 percent or better from the field during this four-game span.
“The way that we’ve tried to focus on offense since the All-Star break, and all of the hard work that the players are putting in with our coaches … it goes into games and you’re starting to see,” Washington coach Sydney Johnson said. “They’re just seeing things in a way that maybe was a little bit newer in the first 10, 15 games.”
In the teams’ previous matchups this season, the Mystics’ offense was even more potent.
Washington claimed the first one 90-85 at Connecticut on May 18, then routed the Sun 104-67 at home on June 8.
The Mystics and Sun swapped players at the deadline, exchanging forward Aaliyah Edwards for guard Jacy Sheldon. Both contributed double-digit points off the bench in the June 8 contest.
Sheldon has missed the last two games with a right ankle injury.
–Field Level Media
