Washington drops their first preseason game, 77-66, against the Lynx.
Mystics came out of the gates playing some great defense. They forced rookie guard, Olivia Miles, into four first half turnovers. For the half, the Lynx had 13 turnovers overall and just 36 percent shooting. Mystics led going into halftime, 40-36, thanks to some strong play from rookies Cotie McMahon and Lauren Betts.
In the 2nd half, the Mystics went absolutely cold. They did not score their first point until 4:28 left in the 3rd
quarter, with a Rori Harmon free throw. That broke the Lynx 15-0 run that spanned from the end of the 1st half. The first field goal did not come until the 1:57 mark of the 3rd quarter. Mystics were outscored in the 3rd quarter, 26-7, after shooting 1 for 14 in the quarter.
Both Betts and McMahon struggled to have the same success in this half. Lynx did a great job pressing Sonia Citron whenever she touched the ball and forced her into some difficult shots, that took the whole team out of the flow of their offense.
Some good, some things to work, but overall the Mystics will need to clean up their offense as they move closer to the regular season.
Takeaways
- Mystics did a great job drawing fouls. That is something that will be important this season, especially using their size to create mismatches.
- Mystics were outrebounded throughout the night, losing that battle, 56-51. For a team with their size, they will be expected to do more on that end.
- After hitting four 1st half three pointers, the Mystics only hit one in the 2nd half and ended up only going 5 for 20 from behind the arc. This is a concern with this current roster, as there are not a lot of players known for stretching the floor.
- Georgia Amoore got his first minutes as a WNBA player. She only played 12 minutes and played solid during her time out on the court. She is still knocking off the rust, but there were flashes of what could be to come.
