The Washington Mystics tallied 27 fourth-quarter points and overcame a poor shooting night from distance to knock off the host Seattle Storm 74-69 on Sunday and climb above the .500 mark for the first time since May.
Led by rookie All-Star Kiki Iriafen, Shakira Austin and leading scorer Brittney Sykes (17.5 points per game), Washington held down the paint. The Mystics outrebounded the Storm 36-29 and outscored them 48-30 in the paint to claim their third win in a row, matching a season high. Iriafen, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, matched the franchise’s single-season rookie record with six double-doubles.
Ezi Magbegor led Seattle with a season-high 19 points.
The Mystics entered the fourth quarter down by 55-47 before outscoring Seattle 27-14 in the final frame.
Washington’s second rookie All-Star, Sonia Citron, went on a personal 5-0 run to help snatch the lead from Seattle and take a 62-61 advantage with 4:28 left in the game. She finished the night with 17 points.
Sykes, who tallied a team-high 19 points, converted a layup to put Washington up by three with 20 seconds left. Facing a 72-69 deficit, the Storm’s Skylar Diggins caught a pass in the corner but narrowly stepped out of bounds, turning it over to effectively seal the game with 17 seconds left.
Diggins, who leads Seattle in points and assists per game, had a quiet shooting night, going 4-for-14 from the field and scoring only 10 points.
The third frame swung the game in Seattle’s favor, as it outscored Washington 27-16 and took an eight-point lead.
Washington’s offense looked anemic for most of the third quarter. After Stefanie Dolson made a three at the 9:28 mark, the Mystics didn’t convert another field goal for almost eight minutes. They notched only four paint points in the quarter, and their shooting remained cold.
The visitors misfired on 11 of 14 shots from behind the arc for the contest.
In the first quarter, Washington’s defensive tenacity seemed to roll over from their 70-68 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. Seattle started the game 3-for-18 from the field, with two of their made attempts being 3-pointers from forward Nneka Ogwumike, who scored 16 points in the game.
Still, the Storm found themselves down only 16-10 after one quarter.
Seattle’s offense shook off the slow start in the second quarter, taking a 22-20 lead on a Gabby Williams layup at the 6:41 mark. Despite poor shooting, the Mystics rallied and led 31-28 at halftime. Washington went 0-for-7 from three and 5-for-11 on free throws in the first half.
Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first half, committing eight each.
–Field Level Media
