San Antonio Silver Stars vs. Washington Mystics – WNBA Game Preview
San Antonio Silver Stars, bidding to move into a tie for second place in the Western Conference, will be hoping their strong road performance can help them get back on track Tuesday night. To do so, they will enter the Verizon
Center to take on the Washington Mystics, who have made a habit of losing close games this season.
San Antonio got off to the start in the history of the franchise and held a 7-1 record at the end of their first eight games of this season, averaging 92.1 points per game. However, they then lost four of their next six games and
dropped from first to third position in the West. Their average per game also dropped to 70.8 points a game. However, the Silver Stars have a chance tonight, as their rivals are not strong at home.
Washington is one among the WNBA's worst home teams. They are 1-5 at home so far this season, their only victory coming against the league’s worse Tulsa Shock on June 26.
San Antonio’s 73-55 defeat to the Seattle Strom in their previous game was perhaps their most poor performance of this season. The Silver Stars were outscored 38-22 in the first half and did not get any closer than any 15 points
during the entire second half. They shot just 27.7 percent from the field on the night with Sophia Young leading them with 12 points, three rebounds and three steals.
San Antonio guard Becky Hammon acknowledged the terrific performance of Seattle and said, “This is one of the most physical teams in the league, if not the most physical, and we just did not handle it very well.” “It was one of
those nights where everything went wrong. They came out with a purpose and really focused and put it on us.”
The Mystics, on the other hand, are coming off an 86-79 defeat to the Atlanta Dream at home. Washington played well in the first three quarters of the game but could not handle the conference rivals in the closing minutes as they
went on went on a 6-0 run down the stretch to seal the victory. Crystal Langhorne did all she could and recorded a double-double in the loss. The 6ft 2in player ended with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Mystics’ head coach Trudi Lacey said of her team after the game, "They have a huge heart,'' ''They play so hard. They are disappointed, but like I told them, the mental mistakes just have to stop in order for us to win these close
games."
Coming back to the game, the Silver Stars have to realize they will be judged solely on how they deal with Mystics’ leading scorer and rebounder Langhorne, who is averaging 18.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game at home. She is
third in the league with an average of 18.4 points a game.
So come Tuesday night, the Silver Stars better be ready for Langhorne. If they do manage to curtail her brilliance, then the game will very much be theirs to lose.
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