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Takeaways: Washington Mystic trounce Chicago Sky in Tayler Hill’s comeback game

By Lindsay Gibbs

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Tayler Hill #4 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against the Chicago Sky on June 19, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Tayler Hill #4 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against the Chicago Sky on June 19, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Mystics dominated, with plenty of encouraging signs.

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 19: Tayler Hill #4 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against the Chicago Sky on June 19, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 19: Tayler Hill #4 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against the Chicago Sky on June 19, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

WASHINGTON, D.C. — By the time Tayler Hill entered the game in the fourth quarter, the Washington Mystics already had established a 30-point lead over the Chicago Sky, and an extended run of garbage time was just beginning. But you wouldn’t have known it based on the extended round of applause Hill received as she took the court, or by the way the crowd held their breath every time she touched the ball afterwards, and erupted after her two made three-pointers.

Yes, the Mystics (7-5) the Sky (3-8) 88-60 on Tuesday evening, thanks primarily to Kristi Toliver (19 points, 8 assists), Elena Delle Donne (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), and 40 bench points, but Hill’s check-in was by far the most memorable moment of the night.

Hill was head coach Mike Thibault’s very first draft pick when he took over the Mystics in 2014; she was the fourth pick of the 2014 class, right behind the WNBA’s much-hyped “Three to See” — superstars Brittney Griner, Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins. Along with Emma Meesseman, who is sitting out this season due to commitments with the Belgian National Team, Hill has been a bedrock of this franchise for the last five seasons, and last year she was having one of the best seasons of her career when she tore her ACL in a game on July 10, 2017.

Since then,  she’s been dreaming about today, when she could finally return to playing the sport she’s dedicated her life to.

It’s unclear right now how long it is going to take Hill to truly get back into game shape, and if she’ll still have the speed and athleticism she did before her surgery to win back a spot in the starting lineup — Natasha Cloud and Toliver have been the starting guards for the last few weeks, while players like Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Ariel Atkins, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough have been rotating through.

Thibault certainly didn’t have any answers to the potential rotation problems a healthy Hill could bring — as far as problems go, that’s one to savor. But tonight wasn’t figuring all of that out; it was about celebrating the fact that Hill is back.

“It was an emotional day but it felt good. I have so many great supporters,” Hill told reporters after the game. “Between my teammates, my coaches, fans, my family, my best friends. They’re so great. Through this whole process — ten months post-surgery, almost a year since I tore it but through this whole process — they’ve been my rock. They’ve pushed me through the days I wanted to quit.”

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