Essence Carson pounds 20 to lead New York Liberty over Washington Mystics 79-73 - WNBA Recap
On Saturday night, led by a 20 point effort from Essence Carson, the New York Liberty dispatched Washington Mystics 79-73 and completed the first step in their pursuit of a playoff berth.
Cappie Pondexter chipped in with 16 points despite sore Achilles while Kara Braxton contributed 14 to help New York end their three-game losing streak. However, they still have their work cut it they want to make it to the playoffs
as they need to win 6 out of their final 8 games to end the season.
“Every game is crucial at this point,'' said Carson,. ``We have to think that we need every game. We had to win a game like this, especially with the situation we're in.”
It was good to see a great team effort from the New York team who are not letting their main goal get out of sight and head coach John Whisenant was pleased.
“We told them that it didn't matter who we were playing, that we had to play hard,'' Whisenant said. ``Essence came back and played well. She got more minutes. We shook the starting lineup around a little, not for any reason. It
seemed to work.''
Monique Curry put up 20 points while Crystal Langhorne and Jasmine Thomas contributed 19 and 18 points respectively for the Wizards. But their best of efforts were not enough to prevent the Mystics from losing their fifth consecutive
game and they are now placed last in the Eastern Conference.
There was nothing to separate the team in the first six minutes of the game, but Washington took a 20-15 lead courtesy of couple of baskets from Langhorne and a deuce from Jasmine. However, New York replied back with a 7-0 run
of their own and take a 22-20 as they ended the first period on a high.
Things were close again in the second quarter but Braxton took over mid-way as she helped Liberty put together an 11-0 run which proved to be the turning point in the game. A 45-32 advantage before heading into the interval was
too much to overcome for the Mystics.
An even third quarter ensured that Liberty maintained their 13 point lead. Washington tried to offer resistance in the final quarter as they opened up by scoring 4 quick points and at one point had the lead down to 8, but Carson
put an end to the Mystics charge with a reverse layup and despite Washington scoring the final 7 points of the game, the lead did not change hands as New York took this game.
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