Fever-Mystics Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Sep 20 2012 2:53PM

While the Indiana Fever have the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed locked up, they haven't looked much like title contenders of late.

The Fever's recent struggles, though, pale in comparison to those of the Washington Mystics, who try to avoid a franchise-record 12th consecutive defeat Friday night in the nation's capital.

After getting swept in a home-and-home set versus Minnesota, Indiana (20-12) was handed a season worst-tying third straight loss Wednesday, 73-67 at East-leading Connecticut. Playing without starting guards Briann January and Shavonte Zellous, the Fever nearly rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit, clawing their way back to within five in the closing minutes.

"One of the things we wanted to do was compete," coach Lin Dunn said. "We're not going to come in here and lay down and die, and we're going to give our backups some quality minutes."

Katie Douglas had 19 points while Tamika Catchings scored 15 for Indiana, which hasn't lost four straight regular-season contests since a six-game skid in 2007.

While things aren't looking up for the Fever with January and Zellous ruled out for the rest of the regular season with head injuries, a softer remaining schedule could help them regroup before the playoffs.

Indiana, which finishes up Sunday against Tulsa, has taken seven of its last eight meetings with Washington, with the only loss coming 67-66 on the road June 15.

While the Mystics' Crystal Langhorne had 22 points and 13 rebounds in that game, her status for this one is unknown after she missed Sunday's 75-68 defeat to New York with a sprained left foot. She's averaging a team-high 14.7 points.

Her presence was clearly missed against the Liberty, who outscored Washington 28-16 in the fourth quarter.

"That's something we've been struggling with is trying to close games," said Jasmine Thomas, who scored a team-best 16 points. "We've been getting ourselves in position to win toward the end, and then whether it's getting a defensive stop or getting an easy basket or taking care of the ball at the end we're not making it happen.

"We're taking this whole season and trying to learn from it. That's why you haven't seen us really give up toward the end. We're still trying to win games."

Washington closes its schedule Saturday at Chicago following Friday's home finale.

"It's a little bittersweet," forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton said. "We didn't have the best season that we wanted for the fans, but we're still playing hard - our fans know that - and they really support us."

The Mystics (5-27) need to win their last two games to avoid matching - or surpassing - their second-worst record in team history, set last year. Washington went 3-27 during its inaugural season in 1998, also losing 11 straight that year.

Phillips scores 19 as Fever beat Mystics 66-53

Posted Sep 21 2012 11:16PM

WASHINGTON (AP) With three starters sitting out, Indiana coach Lin Dunn liked what she saw from the backups.

Erin Phillips scored a season-high 19 points and the Indiana pulled away in the second half to beat the Washington Mystics 66-53. Jessica Davenport added 14 to help the Fever (21-12) snap a three-game losing streak. Indiana also reached 21 wins for the seventh time in the last eight years.

``It's like good news, bad news. The bad news is we've got some people sick or hurt. But the good news is that gives all these other players quality time in a very competitive situation,'' Dunn said. ``We're playing to win. We feel like this is gonna help our bench going into the playoffs.''

The second-place Fever open the first round of the postseason on Thursday at home against Atlanta.

Indiana was without three injured starters including Briann January and Shavonte Zellous - who are both undergoing evaluations for concussion symptoms after suffering head injuries Monday against Minnesota - and Katie Douglas. Karima Christmas left in the second quarter and didn't return.

Erlana Larkins (eight points and 11 rebounds) and Jeanette Pohlen (six points and five rebounds) were the other replacements in the starting lineup.

``We've prided ourselves on having a deep bench throughout the season,'' Phillips said. ``Everybody's played almost every game.''

Monique Currie scored 16 points to lead last-place Washington (5-28), which has lost 12 straight and 18 of its last 20.

``Defensively, to hold Indiana to 66 points is a pretty good job,'' Mystics coach Trudi Lacey said. ``I thought offensively we struggled shooting the ball. We just missed a lot of open shots.''

The Mystics shot 34 percent (22 of 65) from the field and were outrebounded 43-40.

Washington was also short-handed, playing without leading scorer Crystal Langhorne due to a left foot strain, as well as Noelle Quinn and Michelle Snow.

Phillips, starting in place of January, scored 11 of her points in the third quarter as Indiana extended a two-point halftime lead to 12 points heading to the fourth.

``We started with eight players, and then we were down to seven, so physically, it was a tough battle. But we played a lot of zone, pretty much all zone,'' Phillips said. ``I thought we did a pretty good job to hold them to what we did. We won the boards, so just all around it was a pretty good effort.''

The Mystics pulled to 54-47 on a 3-pointer by Jasmine Thomas early in the last quarter, but Indiana soon went on a 6-0 run and Washington got no closer than within 11 the rest of the way.

The first half featured 10 lead changes, the final one coming when Tamika Catchings drove the lane, scored and was fouled with :28 left. She converted the free throw and Indiana led 28-26 at halftime.

``Look at going into Sunday's game against Tulsa and then moving on to the playoffs, we're gonna need this group to step up big, so this is a good start for them,'' said Catchings, who sat out most of the second half and finished with nine points.

• Fever: --
• Mystics: --

• Fever: --
• Mystics: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #24 Tony Dawkins, #55 Eric Brewton
• Attendance: 7702
• Duration: 1:50