Sonia Citron’s 21 points and Kiki Iriafen’s 18 points and 12 rebounds helped carry the visiting Washington Mystics in an 88-84 victory against the Indiana Fever on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Sug Sutton added 13 points and Alysha Clark recorded 11 points for the Mystics (15-18).
Aliyah Boston’s 20 points and nine rebounds paced Indiana. Kelsey Mitchell notched 14 points and Natasha Howard, and Odyssey Sims both added 11 points. Damiris Dantas finished with 10 points for the Fever (18-16), who have lost four of their last five games.
Washington made it through a choppy fourth-quarter stretch by posting 13 of the first 18 points in the stanza for a 75-69 edge.
The Fever cut an eight-point deficit with 2:31 remaining to 83-80, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Jade Melbourne made three of four free throws to help desk the outcome.
With the game knotted at 56-all and four minutes to play in third, the Mystics scored six straight points — including a deep Clark trey — to lead by six in the final minute. But Dantas notched five points — including a 3-ball at the buzzer — sandwiched around Sophie Cunningham’s 3-pointer for the Fever’s 8-0 run in the last 57 seconds of the quarter which gave them a 58-56 lead after 30 minutes.
Indiana was up 45-40 at halftime despite connecting on just one shot from the field across the last four minutes. The Fever shot 54.3 percent from the floor in the first half.
But the Mystics bounced back to shoot 66.7 percent (10-of-15) in the second quarter, putting them at 53.3 percent at the break.
The Fever led by 12 points by early in the second quarter, with Sims already racking up nine points in eight minutes off the bench.
Fever guard Caitlin Clark missed another game with a right leg ailment.
–Field Level Media
