Washington Mystics strike late to topple the New York Liberty 64-63 – WNBA Recap (Part-3)
The third quarter turned out to be a low scoring affair. Mystics had the possession when the second half started but they failed to make a shot in the 24 second and were faced with a shot clock turnover. The teams picked on the
trend in the passage that followed.
Matee Ajavon drew the first blood after the break when she rolled in a layup to make it a one point contest at 38-39. In the next three minutes, the game witnessed only four points, both by Liberty, who restored a five point advantage.
Both the teams kept on missing shot and the quarter ended at 49-46 in favour of Liberty. Washington again scored first in the fourth quarter and came within a point, but in the next 3:20 saw Liberty sprint to a 10-2 run to take
a commanding position at 59-50.
However, keyed by Crystal Langhorne, the Mystics immediately counter punched with a with a 12-2 run to only slash their deficit, but also take a two point lead (62-60), their first since 17-16 in the final minute of the first quarter.
Liberty took a time out at that point and when they came out Leilani Mitchell knocked down a long range shot to give Liberty the lead at 63-62. Ajavon turned over the ball on the next possession, but luckily for her and the Mystics
Cappie Pondexter missed a jumper on the other end. Ajavon then made up for her mistakes by nailing two free throws, ones that proved to be the final scoring shots on the night.
Pondexter missed another jumper after that and with 18.8 remaining Marissa Coleman missed a two. Mystics grabbed the rebound, but Kelly Miller missed both the rebounds with 04:04 seconds remaining. That provided Liberty a last
gasp chance to win it, but Pierson’s left-handed layup fell short off the rim.
``Plenette had position inside and that will usually get you a foul,'' Liberty coach John Whisenant said. ``Unfortunately it didn't get us a foul tonight nor a made basket, so we didn't win.
Langhorne who led the Mystics with 18 points on the night said after the game ``We have a lot people that are going to keep playing hard, and that's what we hang our hat on, being aggressive and never giving up,'' . The two sides
will now meet each other at New York on Tuesday night for the third and final time this season.
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