Alysha Clark was back in the starting lineup Tuesday and went through her new normal routine during pregame introductions. Her name was called, and she jogged through a line of teammates and, this time, met Elizabeth Williams at the end. Williams held the top of her hands as if doing a ballerina’s pirouette, with both finishing with a curtsy.
Mystics’ defense carries the day in a win over the Dream
A Clark curtsy toward the Atlanta Dream bench after the game would have been appropriate, too.
After a slow start, the Mystics rolled to a 70-50 victory. Washington beat Atlanta for the second time in five days to improve to 6-2. Afterward, the Mystics declined to talk about basketball in the wake of a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday that claimed the lives of at least 19 children.
Under the roof of the Entertainment and Sports Arena, it was all about defense. The 50 points were the fewest the Mystics have allowed this season — and the fewest scored by the Dream (4-3).
Much of that was thanks to Clark, who was Rhyne Howard’s shadow. Last month’s No. 1 draft pick has had a tremendous start to her career; she was named the season’s first Eastern Conference player of the week and entered Tuesday’s game leading the WNBA in scoring. But the Mystics kept her scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting, with Clark taking on much of the responsibility.
On Friday in Georgia, Howard scored 19 first-half points against the Mystics before being held to two in the second half when Clark turned up the defense and Washington grabbed a 78-73 win. Clark was even tougher Tuesday.
“It was bound to happen,” Dream guard Erica Wheeler said. “She’s a great kid. She’s not sitting in her [expletive] right now or pissed off about that she didn’t make a basket. It happens. … We just have to help her out as a vet and just get her out of it.”
Clark wasn’t just a defensive stalwart; she scored seven of the Mystics’ first nine points and finished with 11 points and three rebounds. Elena Delle Donne had 15 points, Kennedy Burke scored 13 off the bench, and Ariel Atkins added 10. Aari McDonald had 10 points for the Dream, which shot 35.7 percent and had 25 turnovers that Washington turned into 20 points.
Here is what else to know about the Mystics’ win:
The statement
Natasha Cloud broke out an old T-shirt on Tuesday: She sported an orange tie-dyed shirt from the Everytown for Gun Safety organization during warmups. Cloud and the Mystics have been involved in activism against gun violence in recent years. The Mystics held a moment of silence before the game, and Cloud represented the team in comments to reporters afterward.
The Mystics decided to have a media blackout tonight and focus on the Texas shooting. Natasha Cloud represented the team with a few words. #wnba pic.twitter.com/NMxVLV74B1
— Kareem Copeland (@kareemcopeland) May 25, 2022
“We have an issue in this country. Not only white supremacy, we also have a gun violence issue,” she said. “This is us using our platform, right? This game doesn’t matter. … The 18 lives that were lost today from senseless gun violence in Texas at an elementary school, we’re talking about our kids not being safe to go to school and our government is still not implementing sensible gun laws.
“This isn’t about taking people’s rights away from bearing arms. This is about putting sensible gun laws in so this doesn’t happen again. We cannot continue to make the same mistakes. We cannot continue to allow these things to happen in our country and nothing is being done with it for money, for profit. So I’m calling on everyone. Please put this out. Post it. Write to your not only local representatives but your federal representatives and tell them you are tired. Tell them that we are tired of lives being lost in this country for senseless [expletive]. It is time to implement gun laws and stop caring about profit and money over people and lives.
“If our government is not going to do our job, then we’ve got to do our job and come together as a community because this is absolutely ridiculous at this point. To the families in Texas, the Mystics are sending our love, our prayers. We prayed for you all today. And we’ll continue to pray for you and we will continue to fight for you. And we’ll fight for everyone in this country.”
Full team, minus one
The Mystics’ roster was at full strength for the first time since 2019, if not longer. Clark returned from a scheduled day off, Williams and Burke joined the team from overseas recently, and no one was on the injury report.
The roster was fully available, but the coaching staff was not. Coach Mike Thibault missed the game for personal reasons, so associate head coach Eric Thibault ran the show. This was the third game Eric has served as the top coach after Mike missed two game because of coronavirus issues last season. Eric lost both of those but earned his first win Tuesday.
Still, the victory goes on Mike’s record, and he is expected to coach Saturday’s game at the Connecticut Sun.
4K for Delle Donne
Delle Donne became the second-fastest player in WNBA history to score 4,000 points. She reached the mark — landing exactly on it after Tuesday’s matchup — in 198 games; Diana Taurasi needed 197.
Source: WP
