Mystics-Shock Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jul 02 2010 6:50PM

Katie Smith won two championships with the Detroit Shock but declined to stay with the franchise when it left for Tulsa.

Instead, Smith signed with the Washington Mystics, and now she will travel Saturday night to face her former team, which has lost nine in a row.

Smith was a key part of the Shock's 2006 and 2008 title-winning clubs, earning WNBA finals MVP honors during that second championship run. Lower back problems caused her to miss last season's trip to the Eastern Conference finals, where Detroit fell to Indiana.

Less than a month after that defeat, the franchise announced it was leaving the city where it won three league championships. Smith joined the Mystics in March but averaged 8.1 points over her first 13 games - hardly half her 15.5 career average - on 38 percent shooting.

She has emerged from that slump by leading Washington (11-5) to the last two victories on its current three-game win streak. Smith has hit five 3-pointers in back-to-back games, finishing with 21 points in a 68-65 win over Indiana two days before scoring a season-high 25 in Thursday's 107-104 victory at Phoenix.

"You just got to be ready when your number gets called," Smith said.

The Mystics have won seven of eight overall but enter this matchup having dropped 26 of 36 to the Shock, though they'll face a much different team Saturday.

Deanna Nolan, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Cheryl Ford joined Smith in looking elsewhere when the franchise relocated, and new coach Nolan Richardson was left with little experience.

Nowhere has that been more apparent than during the team's current skid, its longest since opening the 2002 season with 13 consecutive losses.

"Being down is not the end of the world," Richardson said. "It's how you respond when you're down."

Tulsa has been outscored by an average of 15.0 points during its nine-game skid, and gave up at least 90 points for the sixth time during that span in Tuesday's 101-89 defeat to visiting Connecticut.

The Shock (3-12) shot 50 percent and had four players score in double figures, led by Scholanda Robinson's 19. However, they allowed the Sun to shoot 50 percent and have five players score at least 16.

Tulsa now faces the task of stopping not only a rejuvenated Smith but also Crystal Langhorne, averaging 23.6 points and 11.2 rebounds over the past five games.

Langhorne averaged 11.3 points and 10.0 boards last season against the Shock, helping the Mystics win two of the three matchups.

Langhorne leads Mystics over Shock 69-54

Posted Jul 03 2010 10:42PM

TULSA, Okla.(AP) Crystal Langhorne had 15 points and nine rebounds to help the Washington Mystics send the Tulsa Shock to their 10th consecutive loss, 69-54 Saturday night.

Monique Currie led Washington (11-5) with 17 points and Lindsey Harding scored 14 points.

Scholanda Robinson led the Shock with 16 points and Shanna Crossley had 11 for Tulsa (3-13), which was outrebounded 45-26.

The Shock actually led by a point entering the second quarter, but made 1 of 13 shots, scored four points and trailed 30-19 at halftime.

• Mystics: --
• Shock: --

• Mystics: --
• Shock: Richardson

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
• Officials: #18 Kurt Walker, #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #48 Marissa Whaley
• Attendance: 3516
• Duration: 2:8