MYSTICS NOTES
— The Washington Mystics (1-0) defeated the Indiana Fever (0-2), 82-75,
Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Mystics guard Kristi Toliver
scored a team-high 16 points on 6-11 (.545) from the field and 4-6
(.667) from 3-point range.
— Every Mystics player got on the board with four players scoring in
double figures – Toliver (16), forward Elena Delle Donne (13), forward
Monique Currie (11) and guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (11)
— Washington shot 28-67 (.418) from the field and topped Indiana in both
3-point shooting percentage (11-25; .440) and free throw shooting
percentage (15-16; .938).
— Washington tallied 18 assists, compared to Indiana’s 13, and committed
10 turnovers while forcing 15 on the defensive end.
— Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne scored 11 of her 13 points in the
second half to go along with a team-leading seven assists and five
rebounds.
— The Mystics took a 38-30 lead into halftime, outshooting the Fever from
the field, 3-point range and the free throw line. Washington guard
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt’s seven points led all scorers.
— Washington led, 21-17, after the first quarter. The Mystics and Fever
each shot 6-16 (.375) from the field in the opening frame, though
Washington separated themselves from 3-point range, shooting 4-9 (.444)
compared to Indiana’s 0-2 (.000). Guard Natasha Cloud led the Mystics in
first-quarter scoring, tallying five points despite playing just two
minutes.
— The Mystics are back in action on Tuesday, May 22, hosting the Las Vegas
Aces (0-1) at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena.
MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT
On the game:“We’ll take the win, that’s what I told our team. It was ugly at
times. You want to get your first one, you’ve got some nerves…a little bit in
the first half. I don’t think we had a real good rhythm. I thought we played
hard and I thought our bench, particularly our young players, did a terrific job
of giving us a little bit of momentum. Ariel [Atikins], Shatori
[Walker-Kimbrough] and Myisha [Hines-Allen]…[Natasha] Tash [Cloud] off the
bench. I think they did a terrific job, and they showed a little less nerves
than the others at the start. Maybe they just don’t know better.”
On Elena Delle Donne:“It’s funny because I watched her warmup before the game
and I don’t think she missed a shot for about 20 minutes. I thought, boy that’s
a good rhythm. Then we ran the first play for her and it didn’t go and she
air-balled one. I think she was pressing a little bit. The good thing about her
it that you can come right back to her. We started the second half and ran plays
for her and she got herself going a little bit. When you have a player with that
type of ability, they’ve played long enough to know that eventually the shots
will fall.”
On the three-point shot that Kristi Toliver hit in the fourth quarter: “That
left side of the floor feels like home to her. She has shot the ball well
throughout training camp. I think she spent a lot of time looking for others
earlier in the game, but I think we probably needed a little bit more
aggressiveness from her each quarter and trying to score. Just to balance how
people play us too. But, the nice thing about her and [Monique] Mo’s [Currie]
three, and Elena [Delle Donne] is that they’ve been through this enough that
they’re not afraid of those moments at the end of games either.
On the Mystics bench:“They came in and played at a good pace. They got up and
down the floor. We got a couple steals with that group. Shatori
[Walker-Kimbrough] got a steal, Ariel [Atkins] got a steal, she [Atkins] knocked
down a big three. All those things, they just played. I was thrilled with how
that group played.”
MYSTICS FORWARD ELENA DELLE DONNE
On getting an ugly win:“Ugly might be an understatement. That’s always great
when you can get a win even when it’s not pretty. It’s much easier to learn from
it and look back on it when there is a ‘W’ in the win-loss column. It’s huge
that we were able to kind of just grind through it and get past it, learn from
it, watch a little film. We’ve got a game right around the corner, which I’m
super excited about because I feel like we want to get back out there and show
what we really can look like.”
On the rookies, Myisha Hines-Allen and Ariel Atkins, and the second unit:“The
production out of the second unit was so important to us. They came in and they
lifted us. They gave us energy, played great defense. Our rookies played great
and they played like the way they can. It’s always great to see because you know
the nerves are probably flying. They were settled and they played the way they
can and gave us huge minutes.
MYSTICS FORWARD MONIQUE CURRIE
On the last 13 points coming from her, Elena Delle Donne and Kristi Tolliver and
veteran experience:“I think we have a great balance of veteran and young players
here. Obviously, we have a superstar in [Elena] Delle Donne, a very good player
in [Kristi] Tolliver, and I just fall in and get in where I fit in and try to
contribute where I can. We move the ball well, whoever is open can take the shot
and we believe in each other that we can make shots.”
On defense:“Without looking at the stats sheet, there are lot of things we need
to work on. Mainly, working on our rotations and talking more on defense, so
that people don’t get lost or stuck in screens. I know we will look at the film
and figure out what we can improve. I think the biggest thing would be our
communication.”
On the rookies, Myisha Hines-Allen and Ariel Atkins:“They’ve been playing great
all training camp. I’ve seen what they can do, I know what they can do and I
think the people out there are now getting a chance to see them on this level.
They did great. They were poised, I’m sure they had some nerves, but after the
game got going, I’m sure they calmed down and made some good shots.”
MYSTICS LEADERS: Points:Kristi Toliver – 16Rebounds:Elena Delle Donne, Tierra
Ruffin-Pratt – 5 Assists:Delle Donne – 7Steals:Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Myisha
Hines-Allen – 2
FEVER HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN
On the Fever’s rebounding:“We were out-rebounded significantly less than 24
hours ago. To bounce back and win the boards plus-12 and to couple that with
some transition opportunities – we were able to get up and down the floor. There
were a lot of positives, but where I think we shot ourselves in the foot is that
we had 16 turnovers and the Mystics had 17 points off of that. Also, we were
happy about getting to the line 25 times, but we only made 16. We left some
things on the table in that regard. [We have] a lot of work to do. I was pleased
with some of the ability to bounce back when Washington had some momentum, to
respond after timeouts. We’ll watch the game, evaluate it and try to make some
improvements for Tuesday.”
On what caused their turnovers:“I’m always going to give credit to the
opposition when it’s due. I would say maybe four of those [turnovers] we aided
in that, in terms of picking up a dribble, or maybe putting the ball too close
to the sideline where they only have to guard a smaller area. I don’t like to
take anything away from an opponent, but I think we didn’t help ourselves in
that way.”
On Kelsey Mitchell’s second game:“Better, but it wasn’t that hard to be better.
I would say that she’s starting to learn a little bit of the nuances of the
game. It’s a lot for any rookie to come into this league – and you can tell them
and they can practice – but until they see it, and feel it and get reps, it’s
going to be a process. I thought that she bounced back from the last game. I
think what helps the younger players is when the veteran players start off well.
It’s not about final stats. I say that and I look at Natalie Achonwa, and I
think that she had a double-double, but what she did in that is that she
struggled and then she bounced back. Candace Dupree and some of those players. I
was pleased that it was more positive than yesterday.”
On defending Elena Delle Donne:“I think it was one of those things where she was
1-for-9 at the half, [Kristi] Toliver was 1-for-4. They’re All-Stars, they’re
the head of the snake. I’m sure they were issued a challenge in the locker room,
they responded – maybe not at the level that they’re used to, but I thought they
responded. You mix that in with our inability to take care of the basketball
[and] it became a recipe for our demise. I’ll give credit in forcing Elena to
take tough shots. That’s what you have to do. If you can hold her to 13-15
points and she usually averages 20, that’s a plus. Don’t misunderstand me,
that’s not enough.”
FEVER CENTER NATALIE ACHONWA
On their first road goad and the fight they had till the end:“We definitely
needed to bounce back from yesterday against Chicago. I think the effort was
there today. The energy was there. Of course not the outcome but we definitely
improved today, and with a young team and a new group, that is really the end
result that we want is to improve every day and as long as we keep building and
continuing forward then, eventually we will get to the point where we are
getting wins and what we want.”
On leading her team in scoring and what got her going:“I was like 2-7 yesterday
so I was just trying to make sure that I was being aggressive. Our guards do a
great job of coming off ball screens and using ball screens where they are
drawing two, so it is really up to me just to make them, and I was really trying
to focus on being aggressive on the glass today as well, so a lot of those
buckets came from offensive rebounds.”
On what they are looking to improve on going into their next game:“So much. It
is always so much with a young group but like I said, as long as we build on
that. KYP is something we talk about is knowing your personnel. Knowing who we
are going against in LA. Knowing if Candace [Parker] is back, knowing her
tendencies, knowing what Nneka [Ogumuike] likes to do on the dives and the weak
side and if we really focus on the little details that makes a difference for
us.”
FEVER GUARD KELSEY MITCHELL
On their first road game and the fight they had till the end:“It just stems from
playing hard, giving it all you got of course. It sounds cliché but it is a lot
for our team considering how young we are and ‘un-veteran’ we are. We only have
one vet and she always makes it count for us and helping us out whenever we
need. It has been cool. We did not get the win that we wanted but it is
alright.”
On her play today:“I don’t know just finding my niche. Finding out where I can
get buckets and where I cannot, and capitalizing on what they give me.”
On what they need to improve on moving forward:“Being able to play at this
level. Playing for forty minutes, not thirty, not thirty five, we do not want to
pick it up at the end.”
FEVER LEADERS: Points:Natalie Achonwa – 21Rebounds:Achonwa – 12 Assists:Erica
Wheeler – 5 Steals:Three players – 2
