Takeaways: How Washington Mystics found success on a tough shooting night

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It wasn’t pretty, but the Washington Mystics (1-0) got a win in their opening game of the season, taking down a scrappy Indiana Fever (0-2) team 82-75.

The Mystics, who are coming off of a run to the playoff semifinals last season, found themselves in a shooting slump early and being dominated in the paint throughout in a game that Elena Delle Donne admitted “wasn’t a pretty win.”

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The Fever outrebounded the Mystics 39 to 27; they also had the advantage in points in the paint (26 to 22), fast-break points (11 to 4), and second-chance points (16 to 8). The Mystics’ big-scoring stars, Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver, were a combined 2-for-13 at the half for four points. (They came alive in the second half, finishing with 13 and 16 points, respectively.)

The most impressive thing about this game for the Mystics was their depth — all 10 players scored at least four points, including the two rookies, first-round pick Ariel Atkins from Texas and second-round pick Myisha Hines-Allen from Louisville.

“They were huge. The bench put in really solid minutes. The rookies felt like veterans, they didn’t seem nervous at all,” Delle Donne told High Post Hoops following the game.

For the record, Hines-Allen told High Post Hoops that Delle Donne was mistaken.

“Yeah, I was nervous, not even going to lie,” Hines-Allen said. “And then once the flow of the game started going I was like, oh, it’s just basketball. I got comfortable and started playing.”

Atkins had five points, one assist, and one steal, while Hines-Allen had six points, two steals, and two rebounds. Natasha Cloud also changed the momentum from the bench, scoring five points and three assists, while sophomore Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had a bench-high seven points and two steals in 12 minutes.

Toliver lead the way for the starters with 16, followed by Delle Donne at 13, and Monique Currie and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, both at 11.

Other takeaways:

Last season, the Mystics led the league in three-point attempts with 21.5 per game, but only made 6.8 threes per game, leaving them towards the bottom of the league when it comes to three-point percentage. On Sunday afternoon, they showed vast improvement and went 11-for-25 from beyond the arc. Perhaps most importantly, eight of the 10 Mystics who suited up for the game took threes, and seven of those players made at least one three-pointer.(Currie and Toliver were the only players who made multiple threes, with two and four respectively, and Hines-Allen, and center Krystal Thomas were the only two without any attempts.)
Tierra Ruffin Pratt, who went 0-for-4 from the perimeterthe entire 2017 season, went 1-for-3 tonight, so she’s already topped last year.
Elena Delle Donne was 1-for-9 in the first half, which was a surprise for everyone — Thibault said in the warm-ups, she didn’t miss a shot. She made up for it in the second half, and ended the game 5-for-18 for 13 points, one steal, five rebounds, and a game-high seven assists.
Forward/center hybrid Latoya Sanders is back in D.C., but she is battling an undisclosed illness and it’s going to be a couple of weeks before she’s back in action. The illness was discovered when she arrived at Mystics’ training camp and had blood work done, but she is optimistic for a full recovery. Her presence inside is missed.”I have a health issue that’s just going to take some time to get corrected, it’s a wait-and-see process,” she told High Post Hops after the game. “It’s weird when you don’t feel like you’re injured, but you’re still out and not able to help your team.”
In the preseason, the Mystics beat the Fever by almost 40 points, which made me wonder early on in the game if they perhaps had overlooked this scrappy team. The fun thing about rookies? They’ll admit things they shouldn’t. When I asked Hines-Allen what her biggest takeaway from her WNBA debut is, she confirmed my hunch.”I guess, don’t take this team lightly. Because we played this team in the preseason, we won by … a lot,” Hines-Allen said. “And I guess that’s the biggest thing, you probably think it’s going to be easy and it’s not, you have to fight until the end of it.”
All of the Mystics were happy they don’t have to wait long until their next game — the Las Vegas Aces will be in town on Tuesday night.”I think we’re all pretty thrilled we have a game right away, come back out and show a different side,” Delle Donne said. “Our flow and our offense looks way better than what we showed today.”
Look, the Fever are in rebuilding mode, and it’s likely going to be a long season for Fever fans. However, there’s one huge reason to be optimistic about the future: Kelsey Mitchell. The second overall pick in the draft really found her footing in the second half, and ended up 5-for-11, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arch, for 16 points. She had two steals and two assists on top of that. I’d expect her to take Tiffany Mitchell’s spot in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
Fourth-year center Natalie Ochanwa had a career day for the Fever, finishing with two career highs thanks to a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes. She absolutely dominated the Mystics in the paint and off the boards.Also, Candice Dupree was as reliable as ever, with 13 points and 10 boards.