ARLINGTON, Tex. — The tip of the Washington Mystics’ longest break of the season coincided with the beginning of maybe their most essential stretch of the 12 months.
Dallas, TX
Well-rested Mystics open a crucial stretch with a win at Dallas
The Mystics (18-11), taking part in with out Elena Delle Donne (scheduled evening off), acquired issues off to a very good begin at Faculty Park Heart. The victory over the Wings (12-16) knotted them with Seattle, which misplaced at Connecticut, for fourth place within the league.
“It’s a giant weekend, clearly,” Thibault mentioned. “Little or no prep time for both staff. . . . We performed [the Storm] a month in the past, and so they haven’t modified quite a bit apart from [adding former Mystic] Tina [Charles]. We haven’t confronted them along with her. . . . It’s sort of come out and simply play.”
Level guard Natasha Cloud, one of many staff’s extra vocal leaders, mentioned nothing wanted to be mentioned getting into this significant stretch.
“Not a message,” she mentioned earlier than Thursday’s sport. “We’re all slightly below the understanding that it’s sooner or later at a time, one sport at a time.
“We simply want to regulate our future. Meaning being street warriors at times trying ahead to the weekend, with the ability to play a back-to-back and be productive and constant inside these two video games as effectively. So we’re within the stretch now. … We’re 10 toes down with the place we’re within the current second, not trying an excessive amount of forward as a result of we will end this season sturdy and transfer ourselves up within the rankings, too.”
The Mystics had performed probably the most video games within the league getting into the All-Star Sport this month, making the break much more essential for his or her postseason push. The schedule was a giant purpose Thibault gave his staff the additional relaxation.
“We love being round one another, however … we’d like some house, too,” Cloud mentioned with fun. “And simply time to reset, be with our households and actually similar to sit down for a minute and be the place our toes are. As a result of I believe too usually folks neglect that we’re always going. I actually go house, I spend sooner or later with my canine, after which I’m on the street once more.”
Right here’s what else to know concerning the Mystics’ win:
Washington had one in every of its finest halves of the season, taking a 56-36 halftime lead. The Mystics by no means trailed after being down 4-2.
Myisha Hines-Allen moved into the beginning lineup in Delle Donne’s absence and opened the sport with a steal and a layup. A couple of minutes later, she crossed over her defender after which hit a three-pointer to place the Mystics up 11-6. Hines-Allen completed with 14 factors.
“That was my factor, attempt to be aggressive from the start,” Hines-Allen mentioned. “However for probably the most half, for us to start out that run, [it] began on the defensive finish. We have been in a position to get our palms on issues and simply run out in transition, after which our bench got here in and did the identical precise issues. That’s how we have been in a position to simply maintain the entire momentum.”
The Wings made a fourth-quarter push to get inside 9, however Cloud (14 factors, seven assists) buried back-to-back jumpers to increase the result in 78-64. 5 Mystics gamers completed in double figures, together with Ariel Atkins (14), Shakira Austin (12) and Alysha Clark (13).
The Mystics acquired an enormous carry from their bench late within the first quarter, powering a 9-0 run to take a 28-14 lead. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough continued to play effectively, serving to the staff’s lobbying effort for her because the league’s sixth lady of the 12 months. Tianna Hawkins, again within the rotation, got here out aggressive and completed with seven factors. The Mystics’ bench outscored the Wings’ 20-5.
“Simply being prepared,” Hawkins mentioned. “Earlier than each sport I inform the bench mobs to be prepared when your title known as. … You’ve acquired a sub coming, so there’s no purpose to go away anything on the court docket.”
Thibault was named an assistant on the U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff that can play on this 12 months’s FIBA World Cup. He’s joined by Kara Lawson (Duke) and Joni Taylor (Texas A&M) beneath Coach Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx). Thibault has been concerned with USA Basketball, on and off with each the women and men, since 1993 and was an assistant on the 2008 ladies’s Olympic staff that gained gold.
“It’s at all times enjoyable to do USA, and it’s at all times an honor,” Thibault mentioned. “I’ve been doing it since, like, 1993. Tells you ways outdated I’m. . . . It’s at all times rewarding and nothing like representing your nation on the worldwide stage and taking part in one of the best on the earth.”