Mystics-Sparks Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Jul 16 2011 3:01PM

Joe "Jellybean" Bryant's promotion to head coach has seemed to ignite a Los Angeles Sparks team previously struggling without injured star Candace Parker.

The Washington Mystics, meanwhile, continue to slump.

Los Angeles can win its third straight game while sending visiting Washington to its sixth consecutive loss when the teams meet Sunday night at Staples Center.

Bryant, who also coached the Sparks from August 2005 through the end of the 2006 season, took over prior to Tuesday's 84-74 victory in San Antonio. His squad fell behind by 18 points Friday but rallied for a 79-74 win at Tulsa.

Kristi Toliver hit a clinching 3-pointer with 19.7 seconds left and finished with 25 points against the Shock, while DeLisha Milton-Jones added 18. Toliver played a season-high 37 minutes, and Milton-Jones scored in double figures for the sixth time in eight games to raise her average to 13.4.

The Sparks (6-6) had lost their previous five games before Bryant was promoted from assistant coach to replace Jennifer Gillom. The victories are the team's first without Parker, who is recovering from a knee injury suffered June 26 against New York.

Parker was averaging 17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds at the time of her injury and recently was voted by the fans to start the upcoming All-Star Game.

Los Angeles, which started 4-1, can move back above the .500 mark with a win against the Mystics (2-10), who have lost nine of their last 10.

Crystal Langhorne's 17 points couldn't help Washington in a 78-65 loss to Phoenix on Friday. With two more defeats, the Mystics will match their total from all of 2010, when they tied New York atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Washington's leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, Langhorne will be playing her third contest since returning from back pain. With injuries to stars Alana Beard and Monique Currie, Langhorne has done her best to keep Washington competitive.

She's gotten some help from guard Matee Ajavon, who has seen her minutes double due to the injuries. Ajavon has answered the call, averaging 14.5 points.

"I think I'm being a lot more aggressive, coach has me out there, so I have to make a difference," Ajavon, who scored 14 points in Friday's loss, told the Mystics' official website.

Washington will try to avoid a winless five-game road trip. The Mystics have lost two straight in Los Angeles, but won the most recent meeting 68-53 at home June 24, 2010.

Langhorne scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in that contest, while Toliver led the Sparks with 11 points off the bench.

Ajavon helps Mystics rally from 24-down to win

Posted Jul 18 2011 12:44AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Matee Ajavon scored 27 points and the Washington Mystics overcame a 24-point deficit, completing the largest second-half comeback in WNBA history, with a 89-85 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

The Mystics (3-10) trailed by as many as 24 points in the first half and were down by 14 heading into the fourth quarter before surging back. Washington scored the first five points of overtime to go ahead 82-77 on Marissa Coleman's layup.

``The whole time, we were confident we could come back,'' Ajavon said. ``And our coach is confident in us, and we have faith as well. We just fought the whole way through.''

Detroit owned the previous record, coming back from a 21-point deficit on two occasions. The Shock achieved the feat against Indiana on June 9, 2004 and versus Chicago on Sept. 12, 2009.

Crystal Langhorne finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Coleman added 10 and nine boards for Washington, which snapped a five-game losing streak.

Washington was one point shy of matching the all-time WNBA comeback, set by Detroit against Los Angeles on June 26, 2005.

``With this team, I'm not surprised by anything,'' Langhorne said. ``It just shows how much heart we have as a team. We're always gonna fight back.''

The Mystics, who scored 29 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime, went ahead for the first time since the opening quarter when Coleman's 3-pointer made it 73-70 with 1:40 remaining in regulation.

Kristi Toliver led the Sparks (6-7) with 21 points, while Jantel Lavender had 13.

Toliver's two free throws put the Sparks up 51-27 with 8:45 left in the third quarter, matching the game's largest lead and putting her squad in line for a third straight win. But Washington's 64 points on 58 percent shooting after halftime would erase the deficit completely.

``The second half, we started playing slower and they were really aggressive,'' Toliver said. ``It's extremely disappointing for us to just give the game away like this.''

The Mystics used a 9-0 run early in the fourth to trim the lead to single-digits and followed with a spurt on 10 unanswered points minutes later to tie things up 70-70

Sparks guard Ticha Penicheiro stole the ball and made two free throws with 24 seconds to go for the 77-75 advantage. Ajavon then milked the clock and was fouled on a jumper with 3.4 seconds left. She hit both freebies to level the score again.

The Sparks had a chance to win it but Tina Thompson missed a driving layup before the horn sounded.

Coleman's 3-pointer in the extra session capped five straight points to put the Mystics up by five. The Sparks went scoreless the first 2:49 of overtime, eventually scoring on Toliver's layup to get within 82-79. But they would get no closer.

The loss was the Sparks' first in three games under Joe Bryant, who was promoted from assistant to head coach after the team fired Jennifer Gillom on July 10.

• Mystics: --
• Sparks: --

• Mystics: --
• Sparks: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #8 Daryl Humphrey, #39 Michael Price, #40 Janetta Graham
• Attendance: 10398
• Duration: 2:26