Results tagged “mystics”

• Middle Tennessee State 32, Maryland 31
  Southern Mississippi 37, Virginia 34
  
  These are not typos, I swear. Sorry, Cavs and Terps fans -- it might be time to pack it in until hoops season kicks off. In other scores, #13 Virginia Tech dramatically beat #19 Nebraska after going 91 yards on two plays in the final minute of the game and Georgetown (yes, they have a football team) lost.
• Fever 81, Mystics 74 (OT): The Mystics' season came to an end after losing a decisive Game 2 to Indiana on the road. The Fever sank Washington thanks to a 17 point advantage from the free-throw line and Tamika Catchings' 24 points and 16 rebounds. While the loss ended the Mystics season, they can at least say they went out with a good fight against a team that was almost unbeatable at home during the regular season. Crystal Langhorne highlighted for Washington with 15 points and 10 boards.
• Mets 3, Nationals 2: Man, this one was a snoozer which had some fans questioning the sanity of the manager; appropo for two teams whose fans have endured two of the more star-crossed seasons in recent memory. On the positive end: Adam Dunn earned his 100th RBI of the year, a pretty good number for a guy that seemingly nobody else wanted to sign in the offseason.

• Mystics 79, Fever 88: The Mystics let their first playoff game of the 2009 season slip away in the fourth quarter, as the Indiana Fever -- who had the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference -- outscored Washington 32 to 21 in the final period. Leading the scoring for Washington with 18 points was Crystal Langhorne, who was named the WNBA's Most Improved Player of the Year on Thursday. The Mystics will travel to Indiana for Game 2 in the best-of-three series (Game 3, if needed, will be played in Indiana). Overall, the teams looked surprisingly well-matched -- they had the same 3 point shooting percentage, the same points in the paint (36), and committed almost the same amount of turnovers, though the Fever had a slight edge on the boards and at the line.
  
  For the people watchers, Alex Ovechkin was reportedly celebrating his 24th birthday by watching the Mystics play at the Comcast Center. Of note: Ovie is younger than almost 75% of the Mystics' roster.
• Capitals 4, Sabres 3: Speaking of Capitals, the local hockey outfit won its first exhibition game of the preseason over Buffalo. A Brian Pothier tally with a two-man advantage in overtime was enough to settle matters, but Alexandre Giroux, Mike Knuble, and Jay Beagle also scored for the Caps. Semyon Varlamov played the entire game in net and looked good through the first two periods, but then allowed three goals in the third.
• Phililes 4, Nationals 2: The Nats got five innings of solid work from Ross Detwiler (0-6), but the bats went quiet once again, only pushing across two runs against the Phils combo of starter Cole Hamels (10-9) and always volatile Brad Lidge. Hamels struck out 10, and had a perfect game going until the sixth inning.

• Giants 23, Redskins 17: So did anyone happen to read the Post's ombudsman's thoughts on the paper's overwhelming amount of Redskins coverage? Don't get me wrong, it was a decent read; but perhaps the people weren't complaining about the amount of coverage, so much as having early visions of having to read a whole lot of reporting about the stinker that the Skins laid in the swamps of Jersey yesterday. Don't let the score fool you -- the Giants owned this game from start to finish. If it wasn't for a late Chris Cooley touchdown after Washington went hurry-up late on and the Giants' utterly shocking inability to finish inside the red zone, the scoreline would have been much more lopsided. On a bright note, the defense -- led by London Fletcher's 18 tackles -- played fairly well. But on a day when Jason Campbell (the fact that he had a 93.6 rating in this game just proves that the rating equation is nearly beyond fixing) couldn't manage the clock, couldn't locate receivers downfield, and turned over the ball twice, including a fumble returned for a touchdown, anything other than a perfect game from the D was going to lead to a loss.
  
  You know, when the best offensive play until quasi-garbage time comes from your punter on a fake field goal, well, it's probably time to revisit a few things on the practice field.
  
  It's hardly anything to jump off a cliff about -- after all, winning on the road in the NFC East is always a struggle and Washington gets the just terrible Rams at home next week -- but based on the reactions that the team's having (DeAngelo Hall's post-game reaction, which one can probably apply to the whole team: "I feel like the guy that just couldn't make a play to save my life....I just didn't execute and play to my ability at all"), you can tell that they know that plenty of improvement is needed. And hey, on the plus side, we now know what Jim Zorn's face looks like before he vomits.
  
• Nationals 7, Marlins 2: What's that? They're still playing baseball? Oh, yes, right. Well, the Nationals won, so that's good. John Lannan (9-11) got off a bit of a slide and tossed five good innings for the win, and the bats were in gear. Christian Guzman had three hits after Ryan Zimmerman was given the day off, and callup Pete Orr capped a memorable series for young Nationals with a double and a homer. With 19 games left, the real question is for how long the Nats can stave off 100 losses -- or if you're being optimistic, how quickly they can get to 62 wins.
• Liberty 86, Mystics 65: So, a completely meaningless game against the last-place team in the conference, with the playoffs right around the corner? Enough said.

              

It looked more like the NHL than basketball, but despite the bumps and bruises on both benches, the Mystics pulled out a must-win over the visiting Atlanta Dream on Saturday. Washington led the entire game and clinched a playoff spot with the 82-64 victory.

Marlins 9, Nationals 6: Giving up 11 hits to the opposition's first five hitters in the lineup is a sure way to get yourself in some serious trouble; such was the case for Garrett Mock and the Nationals last night at Nationals Park. The Nats couldn't hang with the Marlins' hot bats last night and dropped their seventh straight game. Washington's unbelievably ugly alternate "American" uniforms did little to distract Florida hitters, and Mock (3-7) struggled through three innings, allowing six runs. The home team certainly wasn't out of the game, though, as they scored five runs themselves in the first three frames -- Josh Willingham hammered his 22nd home run of the season and Ryan Zimmerman and Alberto Gonzalez had triples. But long reliever Saul Rivera couldn't stop the bleeding, and allowed three more runs in the next couple of innings. Perhaps the Nats could have got back into it with some clutch hitting -- culprit number one: catcher Josh Bard, who left 10 men on base -- but five Florida relievers kept the bats quiet.

Imagine being under .500 and facing down a 19-11 team that you lost to by 10 points a week ago. Their leading scorer is out with an injury -- but so is yours. You're trying to beat a team that's won six straight, while you've gone 2-4.

Sunday's 81-75 victory over the Minnesota Lynx kept the 14-15 Mystics in playoff contention, but the price was high: an injury to All-Star Alana Beard's ankle late in the fourth quarter forced her to the sidelines.

by DCist contributor Elisabeth Meinecke Back in July, Mystics point guard Lindsey Harding was hoping she didn't lead the WNBA in minutes played come September. But nearly one week away, she's topping the league with over 36 minutes per game, an immense average for a player who has battled injuries throughout her professional career.

• Nationals 5, Reds 4:: Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Ryan ZImmerman provided all the offense Washington needed to overcome a four-run fifth inning from the Reds and win their first series on the road since the middle of June. The three sluggers had big games in support of John Lannan, who looked incredibly average for the second straight start. Willingham delivered the most impressive blow, a towering two-run homer in the fourth inning with Dunn on base. Not to be outdone, Dunn was an on-base machine, reaching base four times (two doubles and twice hit by pitches) -- while Zimmerman's hit was the most timely of them all, a single which pushed both Dunn and Willingham home to retake the lead. The pen also came up big again: Jorge Sosa (2-1) got five outs in relief for the win, and Mike MacDougle picked up where Sosa left off and got the last four outs for the save, his 13th. The Nationals are off on Monday -- it's probably a good thing, as the team will be focusing all its efforts towards signing Stephen Strasburg before the midnight deadline.
• Liberty 60, Mystics 59: Not a typo there, folks -- this game really was that offensively-challenged. Washington couldn't carry over its momentum after a big double-overtime win against Connecticut two days ago, dropping this ugly one to conference doormat New York. To blame? If dismal shooting from beyond the arc and at the free throws line wasn't enough to assure the loss, fouling the opposition's best player -- Janel McCarville, who had 19 points -- on a final shot McCarville herself called "ugly" certainly did the trick. This one hurts: in a three-way tie for second at the beginning of the night, the Mystics fall all the way to fifth place after the loss.

• Nationals 2, Reds 0: Ronnie Belliard is hardly known as a guy with a ton of power -- after all, he's never hit more than 17 longballs in a season, and he's a player from whom ten homers in a season would be a solid return. But his blast in last night's game against the Reds could probably count for two -- Belliard absolutely crushed a first-pitch breaking ball from Reds starter Aaron Harang (6-14) to open the scoring in Cincinnati. Thanks to a great outing from Garrett Mock, that was enough offense to lead the Nationals to a victory. Mock (2-4) looked dominant at times in posting six shutout innings to earn his second straight victory. Washington's bullpen also reverted to its form from the team's recent eight-game winning streak -- four Nats relievers held the Reds in check, capped by Mike MacDougal, who retired the side in the ninth for his 12th save. More good news for the Nats: the team has acknowledged that the front office has held meetings with holdout #1 pick Stephen Strasburg and superagent Scott Boras -- the deadline to sign the stud pitcher is Monday. Will the Nationals get a deal done? Only time will tell.
• Mystics 91, Sun 89: It was a big game for both teams -- a win for either would do a whole world of good in the logjam that is the race for second in the WNBA's Eastern Conference: perhaps it should come as no surprise that it took double overtime to settle matters. Connecticut and Washington played one of the more entertaining matches of the WNBA season at the Verizon Center, with the Mystics coming out on top, despite missing chances to win the game at the end of regulation and the first extra period. Crystal Langhorne came to the rescue: the Maryland product had a sensational game, with career highs in points (22) and rebounds (16) -- she also hit the game-winning shot with nine ticks left in the second OT. With the win, the Mystics pull into a three-way tie for second place with the Sun and Atlanta.

Braves 8, Nationals 1: You think you had a bad day? Nationals manager Jim Riggleman certainly can relate.

• Nationals 7, Diamondbacks 6: It's getting tougher and tougher to call it a fluke: the Nationals won their sixth straight game on Friday night, coming from behind to defeat visiting Arizona. A victory certainly didn't appear to be in the cards, after the D'backs put up five runs in the top of the second against Collin Balester -- but big time hits from Ryan Zimmerman (he homered, extending his current hitting streak to 11 games), Cristian Guzman (extended his own hitting streak to 13), Josh Willingham (who singled in the winning runs in the seventh), and Elijah Dukes (three RBI) combined with some fantastic pitching from five Nationals relievers combined to provide the Nationals with their 21st comeback victory of the year. Mike MacDougal grabbed another save with a scoreless ninth, his fifth in six days. The most amazing statistic of the night: the Nationals bullpen, such a point of weakness for the team earlier this year, is now 8-1 with a 3.13 ERA since the All-Star break. But if the Nats want seven in a row, they've got a big task ahead of them: All-Star and marquee pitcher Dan Haren takes the mound tomorrow for the desert-dwellers.
• Mystics 70, Shock 66: The Mystics managed to slog their way through an offensively-challenged game against Detroit, grabbing a big win to alleviate some of the jostling for breathing room in the standings. Alana Beard had 15 points and six assists and Nakia Sanford had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the team to the much-needed victory, which keeps the Mystics a half-game ahead of the pack in search of second place in the conference.

• Nationals 5, Pirates 3: The Nationals have to be glad that they decided not to trade Josh Willingham -- he continued his torrid form on Sunday, sparking a Washington rally as the club broke a four-game losing streak. Willingham -- hitting in the clean-up slot as Adam Dunn took the day off -- hit a home run in a productive seventh inning which saw the Nationals finally get to Pirates ace Paul Maholm (6-6), who had shut down the Nats lineup through six frames. Willingham also smashed an run-scoring double in the eighth to seal the win; the right fielder, who hit .330 with 8 doubles, 7 homers and 23 RBI in July, has now gotten his August off to a fine start. Former Pirate Sean Burnett (2-2) claimed the win in relief, but youngster Collin Balester put in the hard work, giving up but two runs in 5.2 innings.
• Fever 87, Mystics 79: Three losses to the same team in a shade under two weeks? Rough. On the bright side, at least the Mystics don't have to play Indiana again this season. This go-round went a lot like the previous two -- the Mystics played it close, but faltered down the stretch. Indiana shot nearly 50% from the field and had four players score in double figures. Alana Beard and Lindsay Harding combined for 45 points to lead Washington, but they got little help from the rest of the team in the losing effort.

Brewers 7, Nationals 3: It's kind of amazing that with all the negativity the Nationals have experienced this year, the team's manager had only been ejected once in 2009. (Once the losses start piling up, screaming at umps probably seems like a waste of energy.)

• Nationals 8, Brewers 3: Is Nyjer Morgan going to be the acquisition that takes the interim tag off Mike Rizzo's general manager title? It certainly appears that way. The spunky center fielder -- who has been a driving force behind quite a bit of the team's recent success -- led off yesterday's game with a home run and drove in three runs to lead the Nats to their fourth straight win. Adam Dunn and Cristian Guzman also took Milwaukee pitching deep -- Dunn's even went out of the building -- as the Nationals continued to pile up big innings against opposition hurlers. With the win, manager Jim Riggleman upped his record at the helm to 6-7. (Hey, that's almost .500!) Collin Balester (1-1) provided a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. Carlos Villanueva (2-8) took the loss for the Brew Crew. Tomorrow night, Washington counters fellow eight-loss Brewer Manny Parra with the unpredictable Garrett Mock -- a fifth straight win would be their longest positive streak of the season.
• United 1, CD L.A. Firpo 1: The Black-and-Red settled for a draw against Club Deportivo Luís Ángel Firpo in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League prelimary round matchup. Firpo, based in Usulután, El Salvador, will be pleased to head back home with an away goal tucked in their back pocket -- United will now have to earn a score draw or win in the return leg next week to avoid being dumped before the group stage of the tournament. The visitors were the aggressors from the outset, attacking a patchwork D.C. lineup with solid possession play. Eventually, a silly attempt to dribble out of trouble from center back Greg Janicki gave Firpo's Mario Benitez a one-on-one with keeper Milos Kocic. The Columbian delivered off the post and it was 1-0. Jaime Moreno tallied the equalizer from the penalty spot, but United couldn't muster another, leaving them with plenty of work to do next Tuesday in hostile territory at the Estadio Monumental Cuscatlan -- the largest stadium in Central America.
• Fever 85, Mystics 81: The Mystics held a 28-18 lead after the first quarter, but couldn't maintain on the road against league-best Indiana. They'll certainly look back on the disparity in free throws: Indiana made 28 of 36 at the line, while Washington only went 9-16. 20 Mystics turnovers didn't help much, either. Then again, maybe it was just Katie Douglas' night -- the versatile player lit the Mystics up for 34 points. Alana Beard had 19 for Washington in the losing effort.

• Nationals 4, Mets 0: It was Adam Dunn t-shirt night at the ballpark, and the brawny slugger tried his best to come up big: two hits, scoring and driving in a run. But surely, Dunn has to be happy sharing the spotlight with a pitching performance like the one John Lannan delivered against the Mets last night. In his first career complete game shutout, Lannan (7-7) quickly worked up and down the lineup, allowing seven hits in a 4-0 victory -- Jim Riggleman's first as manager (although, it should be noted that one should win most of the games in which your starter goes nine scoreless, regardless of managerial acumen.) Nyjer Morgan also chipped in a great leaping catch with two runners on in the third. Oliver Perez (2-3) took the loss for the reeling Mets, whose manager and GM both got the dreaded "vote of confidence" before last night's game. After being shutout for the fifth time in 13 games (against this team, no less), perhaps the front office might want to vote again.
• United 2, Rhinos 1: D.C. United kept rolling through the U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 semifinal win over USL-1 Rochester at the SoccerPlex -- the Black-and-Red will defend their Open Cup title in the final on September 2 at RFK against either Seattle or Houston. The match was a fairly dull affair until the second half, when goals and severe injuries created some intrigue. A penalty kick from Jaime Moreno put D.C. in front after the break -- but the Rhinos, who won the Cup in 1999, equalized through Taiwo Atieno and things got a little murkier for D.C. But Boyzzz Khumalo delivered United to the final with a industrious tally, slamming in a rebound in the 82nd minute -- sadly, the man of many Zs broke his wrist minutes later. Speaking of injuries, the game was marred after a challenge -- dubbed "absolutely disgraceful" by Rochester coach Darren Tilley -- left Rhinos defender Darren Kenton with a gruesomely dangling ankle. (For those who follow English football: Kenton's injury was Eduardo-esque. For others: Google those images at your own risk.)
• Kastles 23, Buzz 12: Washington kept its chances at a playoff spot alive, thanks to a romp over the New York Buzz at Kastles Stadium. With a win in their final match, the Kastles will earn a spot in the four-team playoff -- of course, they'll have to beat undefeated Springfield to do it, but anything's possible.

• Cubs 6, Nationals 5: Well, the Nats scored four runs in the first two innings, smacking six hits off Cubs starter Randy Wells (5-4), whose ERA rose from 2.72 to 3.00 -- so that was good. It's just too bad ex-Nat Alfonso Soriano had to go and ruin all the fun. Soriano's three-run bomb in the sixth knocked Jordan Zimmermann (3-5) out of the game and the Nats out of the lead. A Mike Fontenot dinger doubled the Cubbies advantage in the eighth. But the Nationals certainly had a chance to make a move, loading the bases twice in the bottom of the eighth against Aaron Heilman; but Cubs closer Kevin Gregg coaxed Ryan Zimmerman into a sac fly, and got Josh Willingham to groundout to maintain the lead to extinguish the threat. Gregg then retired the side in the ninth to earn his 18th save.
• Freedom 1, St. Louis Athletica 0: The Freedom, playing at RFK for the second time this year, picked up a much needed win against St. Louis on the back of a 74th minute Homare Sawa goal. Your soccer oddity of the afternoon: after starting keeper Kati Jo Spisak went down with an injured quad in the second half, goalkeeper coach Nicci Wright had to strap on the gloves -- and make a couple of saves to preserve the victory. Wright, who signed a short-term contract just for this weekend, was filling in for normal backup goalie Erin McLeod who was on international duty with Canada.
• Mystics 68, Liberty 67: The Mystics survived a fourth quarter surge from their Big Apple visitors -- who outscored Washington 25-10 in the final period -- and held on for a one-point win. Reversing some previously bad fortune at the free throw line, Lindsay Harding (who had a spectacular night with 23 points, seven boards, and five assists) hit two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the win. Shameka Christon paced New York with 21 points.

• Silver Stars 79, Mystics 78: Well, so much for that undefeated homestand. The Mystics lost another heartbreaker last night, even though they outscored the Stars in both the third and fourth quarters. The Mystics downfall? The dynamic duo of Becky Hammon and Sophia Young, who scored 41 of San Antonio's 79 points. (More than half the team's total points? Not too shabby.) The Mystics had a chance to win on the game's final possession, but Lindsay Harding's inbounds pass was stolen. Harding scored 18 points and Alana Beard had 17 to lead the Mystics, who are now 2-5 in their last seven after starting the season with a 4-1 record. But they've still got an fuzzy panda mascot (see right), so that's got to count for something.
• Freedom 4, Sky Blue FC 4: In the highest scoring game in the league's admittedly short history, the Freedom battled back from deficits of 3-1 and 4-3 to earn a point on the road in New Jersey. Chalk it up to one of those crazy soccer matches which defy all reason, especially for SBFC: in 14 games this year, the Garden Staters were both scoring and allowing less than one goal per game. Natasha Kai and Kacey White both had braces (that's two-goal games for the soccer-impaired) for Sky Blue, including a cool 86th minute tally off the boot of Kai which seemed to settle matters. But cue the insanity -- Freedom defender Cat Whitehill, of all people, put in the winner in stoppage time: a true poacher's goal -- after a save by Jenni Branam parried the ball off the crossbar, the ball simply fell into Whitehill's path and she would have had to try not to score. Lisa De Vanna also scored twice for the Freedom.

In front of 12,217 fans at the Phone Booth, the Washington Mystics claimed a 75-63 win against last year's league MVP Candace Parker (in her third game back from her much publicized maternity leave) and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday -- a victory which kicked off a six-game home stretch for Washington the right way.

Friends may think Nakia Sanford's job as a professional basketball player is all play and no work, but the WNBA veteran knows better.

• Rockies 5, Nationals 4: One day after being but the eighth team to ever be shutout at Coors Field, at least the Nationals scored last night in Denver -- Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham both went deep. But poor pitching and fundamentals were back again: starter Jordan Zimmermann lasted but four innings, laboring and forcing bad breaking balls over 96 pitches. It was always going to be tough for this Nats bullpen to get through five full innings. Jason Bergmann and Sean Burnett got through three innings unscathed; but Julian Tavarez (3-7) walked two in the bottom of the eighth, and then Joe Biemel turned a sure double-play dribbler to the mound into an awful overthrow, loading the bases -- a sacrifice fly later and it was yet another late-game disappointment. Huston Street overwhelmed the top of the Nats' order in the ninth for his 21st save and Colorado reliever Alan Embree (2-2) recorded the victory without throwing a single pitch.
• United 2, Harrisburg City Islanders 1: D.C. United sure likes to make these Open Cup games against teams from lower divisions interesting, now don't they? The Black-and-Red grabbed a two-goal lead after eighteen minutes through strikes from Boyzzz Khumalo and Andrew Jacobsen, and it appeared as if the rout was on. But even though Harrisburg had midfielder Mo Odour sent off shortly after the restart and United was dominant in possession throughout, the Islanders pulled one back -- a poor clearance by Greg Janicki gave Islanders rookie Nicki Paterson a one-on-one with keeper Milos Kocic, which he calmly converted to cut the lead in half. Harrisburg desperately pushed for an equalizer -- even hitting the bar late on -- but United held on for the win. They'll take on yet another lower-division side, the Rochester Rhinos, in the semifinals of the Cup on July 21, again at the Soccerplex.
• Lynx 96, Mystics 94: The Mystics blew a nine-point fourth quarter lead and lost an absolute heartbreaker to Minnesota. With eight seconds left in overtime, Marissa Coleman was fouled attempting a three-pointer, but missed her final shot which would have tied the game. Amazingly, the Lynx again fouled a three-point shooter seven seconds later -- and again, former Lynx guard Lindsey Harding missed the third free throw which would have forced a second OT, maligning what was an otherwise fantastic 27 point effort. Nicky Anosike led Minnesota with 21 points.

If you get goosebumps watching Ovechkin vs. Crosby, LeBron vs. Kobe, or Tiger Woods vs. everyone else, give this matchup a try: Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury vs. Alana Beard of the Washington Mystics, both first round picks in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi’s Mercury - the highest scoring team in the WNBA - held on in the final seconds of the fourth quarter Thursday to win over the Mystics, 93-87.

After dropping a game for the first time this season Friday against Atlanta, the Washington Mystics pulled out an 81-72 win Saturday over visiting conference rival Chicago Sky. The Mystics’ win improves their record to 4-1 and keeps them in first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Mystics may keep D.C. from falling into a serious sports depression this year. The team is off to their best start in franchise history at 2-0, and in a town that currently houses the worst teams in the NBA and MLB, this group of 11 ladies are a welcome exception. The Mystics won their season opener 82-70 Saturday on the road in Connecticut (against a team that finished second in the East Conference last year) and their home opener Sunday against the Atlanta Dream. The final score was 77-71.

The Washington Mystics open their regular season in Connecticut today against The Sun, and play their home opener at the Verizon Center on Sunday at 4 p.m. against the Atlanta Dream.

In an announcement oddly timed with Earth Day, the Washington Mystics today inked a sponsorship deal with ExxonMobil, reports the Washington Business Journal. The massive oil company will now display courtside ads during Mystics games, a move that should place the team right alongside the Nationals as major targets of environmental protesters. Exxon will also become the official sponsor of the Mystics Student of the Week program. The Student of the Week program recognizes female high school students for excellence in math or science.

The NHL regular season came to a close this past weekend. The Washington Capitals finished with a 50 win, 108 point season—their best finish ever—culminating in their second Southeast Division title in a row. Their mark was good enough to earn the second seed in the Eastern Conference behind Boston. Along with the Bruins, only San Jose and Detroit of the Western Conference enter the playoffs with better records. As the two seed in the East, the Caps draw the # 7 New York Rangers for a first round Stanley Cup Playoff series that begins tomorrow evening at the Verizon Center. Game 2 is an afternoon affair this Saturday.