New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics – WNBA Preview
Taking the season record into consideration, any sane basketball follower will put the money on the New York Liberty to take down the Washington Mystics on any given night. Standing at 5-16, NBA’s second worst record so far this
season, going into Tuesday night’s encounter with the Liberty, who are 13-11 and on the third spot in the Eastern Conference, Mystics do not have much to brag about.
However, they hold one ace that may prove to be the deciding factor on the night. Out of the five wins, the Mystics have managed to gather this season; two of them have come against the Liberty and that too very recently in a seven
day stretch. When they take on the Liberty tonight, it will be the third time in an 11-day span and the last this season that the two sides come face to face.
All the three contests between the two teams have been hardly fought. The two sides met for the first time this season on 28th July in New York. Cappie Pondexter scored 19 points and Kia Vaughn chipped in with 14 that
night as New York left it to the last minutes to gain a definitive lead and win the game. However, with the Mystics hosting the next two games, they turned the tables on Liberty. After taking down Liberty 81-71 in the game on August 6, they managed to squeak
past them 64-63 on 12 August.
However Washington failed to carry the momentum into Saturday night’s encounter against Connecticut Sun and went down fighting 82-75. Langhorne scored 17 points while Matee Ajavon and Marissa Coleman finished with 14 points apiece.
"We have played with tremendous heart and determination all year. There have been games that we have come up short, but we have been in every single game right up until the end," coach Trudi Lacey said after the game. "We played
a tight game; we weren't as aggressive as I would have liked us to be."
The Mystics will certainly need to be aggressive come Tuesday night because they will be showing up against a team eyeing revenge and that too in their own back yard.
The good thing for Mystics going into the game is that Coleman seems to have found her niche for the long range in the last game after going 3 of 19 in the previous four. "Just wanted to make a more conscious effort to shoot when
I was open," Coleman said after last game. "The past few games I have been a little hesitant and passing up some open shots. So I just made it a point to come into this game and shoot when I was open."
However, despite the fact that Mystics carry all the momentum entering the night, Liberty have been the better team this season. They are pacing the Eastern Conference with a field goal shooting at 44.7 percent, a facet in which
Mystics fare last at 41.2. Liberty are also a force to reckon with on home with a 8-4 record. Mystics on the other hand are 2-8 on the road, which make it all the more difficult for them to upset Liberty again.
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