MYSTICS NOTES

• The Washington Mystics (11-6) defeated the New York Liberty (5-13), 86-67, Thursday night at Capital One Arena. With the win, Washington improves to 2-0 against New York this season.
• Washington outscored New York, 20-17, in the second quarter to take a 42-41 lead heading into halftime. Six second-quarter points from Cloud gave her a team-high 10 at half, adding to her four assists and three rebounds.
• After leading by just one at halftime, Washington outscored New York, 44-26, in the second half (22-8 in the fourth quarter). The Mystics’ 26 second-half points allowed and eight fourth-quarter points allowed each set new opponent lows for the season.
• As a team, Washington shot 29-65 (.446) from the field, 11-27 (.407) from 3-point range and 17-19 (.895) from the free-throw line, topping New York in all three categories.
• The Mystics dished out 22 assists and committed just 10 turnovers while holding New York to 16 assists and forcing 15 Liberty turnovers.
• Four Mystics scored in double figures, led by forward Elena Delle Donne’s 21 points on 8-19 (.421) from the field and 3-8 (.375) from 3-point range. Delle Donne also recorded three blocks – her third game this season with 3+ blocks – and has now tallied 2+ blocks in five of her last six games. Washington is now 10-3 this season with Delle Donne in the lineup.
• Mystics guard Natasha Cloud (10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds) recorded the first double-double of her career and set season highs in both assists and rebounds. Cloud’s 10 assists also set a new team high for the season, topping her own nine-assist game against Minnesota on June 7.
• In her first game back after missing the last two outing with a concussion, Mystics rookie guard Ariel Atkins scored nine points on 3-8 (.375) shooting to go along with four assists and two rebounds.
• Mystics Head Coach Mike Thibault, the WNBA’s all-time wins leader, looks to earn his 300^th career victory when Washington begins a two-game road trip Saturday, July 7, taking on the Los Angeles Sparks at 7 p.m. ET at Staples Center. The Mystics lost their only previous matchup this season against the Sparks, 97-86, on June 15 at Capital One Arena.

MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT

On the win tonight: 

“The biggest thing is when you play defense, you give yourself a chance to win. I thought we were just slightly off in the first half defensively. They were making some jump shots they have not been making, but I just thought we were a step behind. The second half defensively was excellent. That is an A rating defense in the second half. The ball moved well on the offensive end. I thought we sped them up more than they wanted to be sped up in that second half.”

On what improvements Natasha Cloud has made:

“One of the things is she is starting to get her shooting rhythm back. For a couple weeks, there was a real struggle. She was not making threes. I think the other thing, is she just has a better feel right now for her teammates. Who needs the ball, when. Her timing of her passes has been so much better, and then she is attacking the rim which draws defense and now she can make some of those passes. Earlier in the year, I thought she settled for some midrange jump shots sometimes, but if you attack the rim, and make them close in on you, then you have passing angles all around the floor.”

MYSTICS FORWARD ELENA DELLE DONNE

On being a versatile defender:

“That’s what is so great about our team and our bigs. We can mix it up and even switch onto guards here and there. We try to use our length and athleticism as an advantage.”

On the All-Star voting:

“I’m honored and I’ve got to thank the fans for voting. They’ve got to keep voting. We’ve got a week left, just one week. I’d love to be in a position where I get to pick the teams.”

On staying aggressive when her shots are not falling:

“I think it’s all at of maturity. Probably, first year in the league, I would have stopped shooting and been like ‘I’ll figure it out at practice and get it the next game.’ Now, being mature and older and knowing the shots, I was getting good looks and just continued to attack. Mainly, I just wanted to get back on defense and focus on a way to help the team that way and getting stops. I felt like focus my effort somewhere else and then the offense will come at some point for me.”

On the third quarter:

“Our defense was so much better. We were able to put stops together. In the first half, I felt like we had great energy and the effort was there and we weren’t always making the smart play. In the second half, we really stuck to our schemes, we trusted one another and our defense looked a lot better.”

MYSTICS GUARD NATASHA CLOUD

On the third quarter:

“We knew that if we were going to take the lead in this game, it was going to be this third quarter. We really came out of halftime focused on pushing the pace, really being the aggressor and getting stops on defense. We lost it periodically there in the fourth quarter, but we were able to regain, refocus with about five minutes left on the clock. Just being able to finish out games, being aggressive and getting back to a transition type of play. ”

On the difference between this time and last time they played the New York Liberty:

“Definitely, being able to get back in the gym for a few days and really focus on our offense and break it down what we want to get out of it and what players’ strengths and weaknesses are within that offense and focusing on defense, getting stops and being able to push in transition makes our jobs a lot easier. Again, just being able to knock down shots. Elena [Delle Donne] and Kristi [Tolliver] do so much for this team and they are the primary focus, so when we are open, we need to be able knock down shot for those two.”

MYSTICS LEADERS:
Points: Elena Delle Donne – 21
Rebounds: LaToya Sanders, Natasha Cloud – 7

Assists: Cloud – 10
Steals: Three players- 2

LIBERTY HEAD COACH KATIE SMITH

On what the difference was down the stretch tonight:

“They hit some shots throughout the game. A lot of things were similar but they knocked down some shots, and found the open person and made us pay. I thought our effort overall was solid. We just have to be able to put the ball in the hole a little easier. Of course they were taking away our inside game. Tina [Charles] was doing a nice job passing. We have to knock down shots and make plays.”

On what they need to keep moving forward:

“We have to compete. Compete on both ends. We have to run with a pace on offense. We have to compete on the defensive end, one on one as a team and really fly around and make life difficult. Teams are really good and if you allow them too much space, they are going to knock down shots, then we just have to shoot with confidence. We have to know that everybody on this team can knock down shots when they get good looks. Step up and knock it down.”

NEW YORK LIBERTY FORWARD TINA CHARLES

On tonight’s performance and reaching 16^th on the all-time scoring list:

“I was just locked in, you know?, I just really am just locked in, just trying to have a sense of urgency, just trying to lead by example, just trying to really help and by any means. That is really what I am trying to do you there. I can’t tell other people to rebound if I am not rebounding, which is unacceptable for me because I haven’t really been rebounding this year. I can’t tell anyone to go hard in the post if I am not going hard in the post.”

On what to focus on in the team’s next game:

“We got to have the same sense of urgency, you know we got to get wins. It is still a lot of games to be played, so you just have to have confidence, you just keep believing that we can turn the season around.”

NEW YORK LIBERTY GUARD BRIA HARTLEY

On what got her going this game:

“I think some of it is my teammates hitting shots…making sure I find them when they are open. Epiphanny (Prince) was able to knock down some shots, finding Tina (Charles) on the block, and the way that she was scoring. I just kind of tried to make myself a threat.”

On what she thinks the team needs to work on:

“I think for us right now it is little things like locking in on defensive assignments…and then hitting shots. I think coming in second half, we had some open looks that we thought we didn’t hit.”

LIBERTY LEADERS:
Points: Tina Charles – 26
Rebounds: Charles – 12

Assists: Bria Hartley – 7
Steals: Brittany Boyd, Hartley – 2