The Sacramento Monarchs have been anything but unbeatable lately, dropping four of their last six games to fall into a tie for last place in the Western Conference.

When facing the Washington Mystics, however, it seems like they can't lose.

The Monarchs look to beat the Mystics for the eighth straight time Tuesday as Washington closes out its three-game Western Conference road trip at Arco Arena.

Sacramento (7-8) has won seven in a row over Washington since an overtime loss Sept. 7, 2004. The Monarchs have beaten the Mystics once this year, coming from behind in the fourth quarter at the Verizon Center on June 11 to win 79-76.

Nicole Powell scored a season-high 28 points and Kara Lawson had 22 as Sacramento held Washington to 14 points in the final period.

"Defense is our lifeline," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek said after that win. "We don't function without defense. We might as well not even play the game if we don't get down and dirty and defend."

Sacramento's offense has been improving along with its defense, as the team is allowing 75.4 points per game - seventh out of 14 teams. The Monarchs came into their first meeting with the Mystics scoring just 70.0 points per game, but have averaged 78.3 points in their last four contests.

They tied their season high in points Saturday in an 82-78 victory over New York. Lawson led the way with 21 points despite having partially dislocated her shoulder in the previous game.

"I can't think of a player in the WNBA that is more tough than Kara Lawson, mentally or physically," Boucek said. "She just goes above and beyond what you would expect an athlete to be able to do."

Washington (6-9) is the lowest-scoring team in the league, averaging 69.3 points. The Mystics began their three-game road trip with a 77-74 win over West-leading Los Angeles on Thursday, but posted a season-low point total Sunday in a 64-49 loss to Seattle.

That snapped Washington's three-game winning road streak.

"There's no excuse to have a win the way that we had in Los Angeles, when we were clicking on all cylinders, and then come here and play the way that we did,'' said guard Alana Beard, who led the Mystics with 16 points.

Beard tops Washington with 18.6 points per game, sixth-best in the league. Taj McWilliams-Franklin (13.1 ppg) and Monique Curry (12.9) give the team offensive depth, although McWilliams-Franklin has been inconsistent.

She leads the Mystics with 34.4 minutes per game, but failed to reach double figures in scoring in five of the Mystics' 10 games in June.