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.
Head coach Julie Plank was pleased with her defense, which she pointed out held the second highest scoring team in the league to only 64 points. The Mystics also beat the Dream at their own game with 18 steals, compared to the Dream’s six (the Dream and Mystics are second and third in steals per game, respectively).
Though the Mystics’ free throw shooting was dismal — 14 of 27 from the charity stripe — Lindsey Harding’s 25 points led all players in scoring, and Chasity Melvin turned in a solid 12 point performance. Alana Beard, who has been dealing with ankle injuries for most of the later part of this season, only made 3 of her 12 shots and played the least amount of minutes out of head coach Julie Plank’s starting lineup. Beard stepped out of the game near the end of the third quarter and was favoring her ankle, but she returned to the game in the fourth and finished with three rebounds, which puts her over 800 (802, specifically) for her career.
“Give Alana Beard a lot of credit,” Plank said. “She was out for awhile and didn’t practice, and I was excited for her to start the game. I thought she gave us a huge lift.”
A tough game climaxed with 1:37 remaining in the first half. Lindsey Harding and Atlanta’s Shalee Lehning chased after a ball and collided at center court. Both went down, but Lehning stayed down, favoring her left arm (even from the scorer’s table, it looked like the shoulder was dislocated). The report near the end of the third was that it was a left shoulder injury, but no details were provided. Lehning did not return to the game.
The Dream have already clinched a playoff spot, but the Mystics now go on the road for their last game of the season against New York, who is out of the playoff picture. The Mystics are at 16-17 after tonight’s win, while previously fourth-seeded Chicago lost to finish their regular season Saturday at 16-18. Thanks to some labyrinthine tie-breaking, the Mystics earned their first playoff berth since 2006 — kicking off against the Indiana Fever on Wednesday at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center on Wednesday.
